Nobody wants to get up in the morning and discover that the hot shower that gets them prepared for the day quickly changes into a lukewarm shower … or even a cold one. It’s especially a trial during the winter days!
If you’ve run into a problem where your water heater is delivering hot water, but not as much as it used to, then you’ll certainly want to have something done about it. Below are five common causes of this problem that we can solve for you.
1. The water heater isn’t the right size
If this is a new water heater and you’re already experiencing the problem of low hot water volume, you probably have an incorrectly sized water heater. A water heater must be large enough to meet the demands of your household. If an amateur installed the unit, it might be too small. This also applies to tankless water heaters, which can be overwhelmed with demand if they aren’t properly sized for a house.
2. Broken dip tube
The dip tube is a plastic tube that carries incoming cold water down through the tank of a water heater to the bottom, where the heat exchanger heats it. The purpose of the tube is to prevent cold water from mixing with the hot water that rises to the top of the tank where it’s pumped out. If the dip tube breaks, the mixture of cold and hot water in the tank will weaken how much hot water your home receives. You’ll need professional repair technicians to replace the dip tube.
3. Sediment build-up at the bottom of the tank
There is some amount of minerals in any freshwater entering the tank, and some of them will form into sediment along the tank’s bottom. This will occur faster in homes with hard water. The sediment layer will make it more difficult for the heat exchanger to send heat into the tank and reduce the amount of hot water. As the layer builds up, it will also reduce how much hot water the tank can hold. A professional tank flush will solve this problem.
4. Broken lower heating element
If you have an electric water heater, the drop in hot water might be due to the failure of the lower heating element of the two in the tank. This heating element is responsible for heating water, while the upper one keeps the water heated. When the lower element burns out, the tank will not have as much hot water available. Technicians will need to replace the broken heating element.
5. Water heater is too old
A storage tank water heater can last for 12 years. As it comes to the end of its life, wear and tear (and possibly the development of corrosion) will begin to lower its heating capacity. One of the early signs of a water heater that’s going bad and needs to be replaced is when the unit cannot meet standard hot water demands. You can ask our team to inspect your water heater in Fresno, CA to see if we can repair it and keep it running effectively and efficiently for a few more years, or if it’s time to have it replaced.