When you suddenly find that there’s no hot water coming out of your hot water taps or shower heads, you know that you have an urgent problem that needs to be taken care of right away. You only need to put in a call to us for the help you need—we have experienced plumbers ready 24 hours a day to assist with water heater repairs.
But what if the problem is smaller: a drop in the amount of hot water you’re receiving, or a drop in the temperature? You may be tempted to simply ignore these problems, but you shouldn’t. There are a number of reasons for this issue with your water heater, and many require expert repairs.
Excess sediment in the tank
Minerals and other sediment can build up inside the tank of a water heater and settle along the bottom. The issue isn’t that this creates less volume for hot water (although that may eventually occur) but that the sediment will block the heat exchanger at the bottom of the tank from effectively warming up the water.
A broken heating element
This is a problem specific to electric water heaters. Most electric water heaters have two heating elements inside the tank to transfer heat. If one of them fails, the water temperature and hot water volume will drop noticeably.
Problems with the burner
Back to the gas-powered water heater. The burners might be having problems firing because of dirt along them. You can’t clean the burners on your own: call on professionals to handle this service.
Too much demand on a tankless water heater
If you have a tankless water heater, the drop in water volume might be due to putting too much strain on it at one time. Tankless water heaters are excellent options for homes, but when multiple taps are on, they can sometimes struggle to meet the hot water demand. In these cases, you might consider a second tankless water heater.
Ken Neyer Plumbing, Inc. is a full-service plumbing company that offers water heater services in Downtown Cincinnati, OH.