What could be causing my daughter’s hot water tank to run out of hot water all of a sudden? She’s lived in this house for 2 years and never had a problem. She’s on City water system. Pressure seems the same throughout house. What could this be?
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Is it electric or gas? If it's electric one of two heating elements probably is burnt out.– TysonCommented Dec 15, 2017 at 4:02
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Yes, it’s electric. I’ll check the elements.– Lee SamCommented Dec 15, 2017 at 4:05
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How old is the HWH? They are easily replaced and the newer ones are always more energy-efficient.– SDsolarCommented Dec 15, 2017 at 6:39
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Not much if they're electric. Electrics are inherently 100% efficient as there is nowhere for the heat to go but the water. -------- Well, a very large tank one will be heat pump based, and that's 200+% efficient, but it's just stealing heat from the utility room, your house's heaters have to make that up. Though in summer it's free A/C.– Harper - Reinstate MonicaCommented Dec 15, 2017 at 8:09
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Learn something new every day. TNX. I was really thinking of gas anyway, where you have to worry about heat exchanger age. Where I sold real estate gas was cheap and electric is to be avoided. Now in Cali it is even more so. Nobody would dare use electric for heating like this. So I have always thought a less-than-5-yr-old water heater is a good investment when people first move in, just so there are no corrosion problems right away. --> But this one sounds like it might well be a single heating element.– SDsolarCommented Dec 15, 2017 at 20:08
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1 Answer
First do as @Tyson has suggested and check the heating elements. If the elements are okay, the cold water inlet has a "dip tube" to insure that the new water introduced into the water heater when hot water is being used may have broken or worn out allowing the cold water to enter the top of the tank instead of going to the bottom of the tank. This would cause the tank to presumably run out of water quickly. To check this the inlet piping needs to be removed and the dip tube taken out and inspected. If you are paying a plumber to do this work, it may be better to just install a new hot water tank. I would compare the cost of repair to the cost of replacement to see which is the better value.
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The dip tube is an internal tube that carries the cold water from the top of the tank (where it enters) to the bottom of the tank, away from the hot exit. Without it, the warm water will draw cold water from the entering cold water stream, short-circuiting the tank as it were. Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 16:36
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