I moved into this older house that was gutted and completely updated, including all the plumbing/water heater, blah blah blah. When i take a shower the water starts out hot, but after about 4-5 minutes i can feel it get noticeably cooler. It doesn't get cold, per se, just warm. The temp is at about 125* on the water heater, which i've played with and it doesn't make a difference.

The same thing happens at the kitchen sink, any ideas/suggestions? The water is warm enough to shower with, but this is still a minor annoyance...

3/10/2012 1:02:42 PM

My guess is that one of the elements in the water heater needs to be replaced (probably the top one). It's really easy to do yourself. And if I were you, I would just go ahead and replace both of them. 2 elements will probably cost you $30 tops, and should only take you about 10 minutes to change out (not including the time it takes to drain the tank).

[Edited on March 10, 2012 at 1:27 PM. Reason : a]

3/10/2012 1:16:48 PM

I concur. Probably a bad upper element. You can test the element for continuity if you have a multimeter. That wont always tell you if its bad, though.

3/10/2012 7:23:22 PM

I'm guessing this isn't typical for a 1-year-old water heater? Ahhhh, appliances....

3/10/2012 9:22:25 PM

Are you 100% sure that the water heater is only a year old?

And either way, a lot of things cause elements to go bad. That's why they are so cheap. But if they keep going bad, you might have an electrical issue.

3/10/2012 9:52:58 PM

the heater could have cut on without the water being in it. quick way to burn one up

3/10/2012 10:12:04 PM

First question that should have been asked, is it gas or electric?

3/10/2012 10:30:35 PM

^ good point. If it's gas, it wouldn't have elements.

3/11/2012 10:10:42 AM

I'm positive it's brand new.....electric

3/11/2012 9:00:37 PM

Nevermind. Reading comprehension.

[Edited on March 11, 2012 at 9:28 PM. Reason : ]

3/11/2012 9:27:44 PM

Hmm. I wonder if my issue is also related to a bad element, although I think occams razor may be in play, considering the temp still gets hot, but for not as long.

My water heater is about 3 years old, but it has only been actively used for the past one. Prior it idled and may have been off most of the time, as it was in a condo that was used as a show unit that the developer couldn't unload because the market was so shitty. For about 9-10 months of operation I had plenty of hot water for showers. Then sometime in January I remembered that I still had the low-flow restrictor in the showerhead and removed it to get more water pressure. Roughly soon after that I began noticing that I could only shower for about 7-8 minutes before the hot water would completely run out. Logically that doesn't sound like a bad element, but surely I should be able to get a 15 minute hot shower if I wanted. The water pressure didn't increase THAT drastically. So either it's too small of a unit (again, doesn't make sense, I'm just one person living alone), or something else is going on.

3/12/2012 11:34:30 AM

What are the tank sizes/capacities in both the OP's and ^'s house? In both situations an undersized water heater (to save the builder/previous owner moneyinstead of buying the appropriately sized unit) could produce both issues.

^I'd replace the restricter if its not too hard for shits and giggles to see if you really are getting more flow than you thought, won't cost you anything unless you threw it away.

3/12/2012 8:26:57 PM

nah, i threw that bitch away. every place ive lived prior (renting) i always took the restrictor out of the showerhead, or installed my own showerhead with no restrictor, and never had a problem. but because the temp is not a problem, it doesn't make sense that an element is going bad right? wouldn't a clear sign of a bad element be that the temp is affected, not the quantity of hot water available? I forget how big it is, I'll have to look again when I'm home. Never worried about how big it was because i never had an issue with it prior.

3/14/2012 1:27:22 PM

had this same problem in a brand spanking new house, I dialed up the lower element a tish, problem solved.

3/14/2012 3:14:17 PM

^^^40 gallon

^I dialed up the lower element, but now I just get hotter water that runs out in the same amount of time. I actually thought water heaters only had 1 control (the one near the bottom) for both elements...hmmm

3/15/2012 6:52:32 PM

Sounds like it's not heating up the whole tank all the way.

3/15/2012 7:14:48 PM