I wrote a blog a few days ago about a problem a family was having with their hot water heater. They would quickly use up a 50 gal tank of hot water then the reset button would go off. I conjectured, at the time, that they had a lower heating element out or if the reset button wasn’t tripping then their problem was that their HWH was just too small for their household. After now having received several comments and direct emails requesting further information on similar situations I decided it's time to cover the subject a little more in depth. The question is “I only have 5 minutes of hot water and it gets cold, what causes this”? There could be several reasons for this type of problem. First eliminate the ones that have nothing to do with the water heater. Are any of your hot water faucets leaking or dripping? How long has it been since you last ran the dishwasher or the washing machine? These things are obvious and can easily use up a hot water supply in most households. In the absence of those solutions there are 5 other things that come to mind and I’m sure that there are many more that have escaped me but these are the primary ones I think of:
1. As in my other blog the HWH can just be too small for your family. If running out of hot water is a new problem, unless you have recently gotten a teenager in the family who is taking 1 hour showers, then this is probably not your problem.
2. Your bottom heating element is burned out. If your HWH is electric it has 2 elements, one at the top and one at the bottom. The tank feeds hot water from the top and if the bottom element isn’t working then you are quickly siphoning off all of your hot water and the upper element cannot keep up with the demand. This is an easy fix in most heaters but because your are dealing with 220 power if you don’t know what youre doing call an electrician
3. You have a dip tube problem. The dip tube is simply the supply line which forces cold water into the HWH when the hot water is being used up. The dip tube is a plastic tube inside the water heater (not the tube that is connected to the relief valve) on the cold water inlet side. this tube goes from the top of the water heater to about 8 inches from the bottom of the tank, forcing the cold water to go to the bottom of the tank, pushing the hot water out of the hot outlet of the water heater. If this tube breaks above that 8” line any hot water below that point will not be available it will just be trapped there. And even though the tank is full of hot water, you will just get a small amount of it. Replacement tubes are available at any plumbing supply. The cold water pipe will need to be removed to replace the tube so unless you’re really good at plumbing you might want to call a plumber.
4. Your lower thermostat is bad. This means that the thermostat is not calling for the lower heating element to come on and thus no hot water is being replenished as you use it from the top. Like the heating element, unless you are adept at electrical work call an electrician.
5. Your upper thermostat is bad. Like the lower thermostat, if it’s not working the upper element doesn’t keep the hot water at the top hot so you get cooler water before you get to the hot water at the bottom. Remember the cold water is delivered to the bottom forcing the hot water on the bottom up and out into your supply lines. Just like the lower element these are an easy fix if you’re adept at electrical work, otherwise call a professional.
Many of these problems, especially the elements and thermostats can cause a rapid overheating of you HWH and result in a dangerous pressure situation. That’s why you should NEVER tamper with your temperature and pressure relief valve and always be aware of any leaks or problems with your HWH requiring a reset or blowing circuit breakers.
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