If you have a hot water unit in your home, you may have to deal with a few faulty issues down the line. It's important to understand the cause of the issues in order to prevent them or to plan for the necessary repairs early enough. Running out of hot water is among the worst problems you can have with your hot water system. Besides the common culprits such as overusing the hot water, there are other reasons that you should know about. Here are 3.
Your Hot Water Tank Is Small
If your hot water tank is too small for the hot water demands in your home, it will struggle to keep up, which means you will constantly run out of hot water. Perhaps your household has increased since you first installed your hot water unit. You may have also invested in a small water heater for your home. In most cases, this will happen if you relied on your own input and insight when choosing a hot water heater for your home. Unless you are familiar with plumbing systems and the calculations needed to size a hot water unit, leave that part to a plumber.
Build-Up of Sediment in Your Hot Water Tank
It's not uncommon for sediment to build up inside your hot water tank over time. Sediment is simply mineral deposits from the hard water that can accumulate inside the tank with time. The build-up of sediment leaves less room for water, which means the capacity of your hot water tank will be reduced. Consequently, your hot water unit will become less efficient in not only heating but also supplying hot water to your family. In most cases, the change in the hot water supply will be gradual if sediment build-up is the culprit. Some of the signs that you have a build-up of sediment in your tank include leaking valves and knocking, cracking or popping sounds coming from the water tank. The solution to this problem is flushing the tank.
Faulty Lower Element
If you have an electric hot water unit, then your water heater has two elements: the lower element at the bottom of the tank and the upper at the top. The lower element heats the water while the upper one maintains the water temperature. If the lower element goes bad, you'll run out of hot water, and this will happen suddenly in most cases. A short in the lower element wiring, build-up of sediment causing the element to overheat and a faulty thermostat are all possible reasons why the lower element can go bad. Addressing these individual issues should fix your problem.
Contact a company like Tai Irwin Plumbing & Draining for additional advice.
