question about my water heater?

Question

Is is normal for a water heater to only be able to heat enough water for a 15 minute shower before it begins to get cold? What about 20 minutes? I live in a townhouse. When i first moved in i could take half an hour showers and now it starts to get cold at 15 minutes and is completely cold at 20... my landlord said it might have something to do with that i got a new shower head and it could be using a lot more water... should I demand it be replaced? I can live with 15 minute showers but I kind of feel like i'm getting scammed...

i forgot to mention, it used to be that the water wouldnt even get hot at all until he came over and turned the hot water heater up, and now it gets REALLY hot but doesnt stay for a long time... if he turned the hot water heater up does that mean that my electricity bill is gonna go way up?

its 40 gal and when i first lived there we could take hour long showers with no problem...

Answer 1

The laws of common sense dictate that a shower head rated at 2 gallons per minute would use twice as much hot water as a head rated at 1 gallon per minute thus using the hot water up faster. So your landlord may be right if indeed the shower head has been replaced with one that has a higher gpm rating. Investigate the shower head first, and find out if this is the case. It would be foolish to start replacing parts on the water heater without following basic troubleshooting procedure by eliminating simple things first.

Answer 2

If you have recently changed your shower head and the new one uses much more water, then it could be contributing to the problem. But if you're using the same head as was on the shower pipe as when you moved in, and you're now only getting a 15 minute shower, then your lower heater element is burned out.
In a two element unit, the upper element kicks on first, to heat the water in the top half of the tank, as heat rises, the top half will attain the desired temp., while the bottom half will remain mostly cool. When the thermostat reads that the correct temp. has been reached at the top half, it will then turn off the top element and turn on the bottom element, thereby heating the bottom portion of the water in the tank. When the lower thermo. senses the correct temp. in the lower portion, it shuts of the electric to the bottom element. So, when the bottom elem. goes out, you only have half a tank of hot water to take your shower, and as soon as you start taking the shower, the cold water starts pouring into the tank, further cooling the water you need for your shower. Turning up the temp. of the water on thermostat doesn't give you more hot water, it only gives you HOTTER water. If you get it hot enough, it could scald you.

Answer 3

hi,
it depends on how big your hot water heater is! i was going to tell u to turn your water heater up so u could get hot showers, but since u have had that done then the reason why your water gets cold faster now is because of the size of your hot water heater. it must be a small or regular size, so unless it's an 80 gallon tank then i would turn the heater down a little so u can get a longer shower before it gets cold. my water heater is a normal size 1 & i have a new shower head & i take long showers too! so u should turn your water heater down a little like it was before so u can take a longer then 15 minute shower! hope this was a good answer for u? let me know ok? bb, [e-mail]

Answer 4

To test how much hot water your tank produces use this test.

Use a 1 gallon bucket.

Then with the hot water tap on full hot time how long it takes to fill the bucket.

This will tell you how many gallons per minute the shower head delivers.

So if you have a 2 gallon per minute shower head, time how long it takes to empty the water heater.

With a 40 gallon tank, it should be running cold in 20 minutes.
If it runs cold, quicker then there is something wrong.

This test will only work with a tank full of hot water.

This test is done best after the tank sits for at least 4 hours with no hot water being used.

Answer 5

a forty gallon water heater is a standard size for most homes. it should last at least twenty minutes, but if you have the shower on full blast, with a large showerhead, it will go quickly. the heater itself can be slowly going as well. I've had mine for ten years, it's still going strong. it will eventually fail, and then you either start repairing it or replace it, just how it goes. i'm sure your landlord won't want to replace it unless it completely fails, so if it bothers you, see if you can split the cost and replace it. a 15 minute hot shower should be sufficent for most folks, so if you want longer, then you should be willing to pay for it.

Answer 6

How long it has hot water depends mainly on the capacity of the heater. 20gal. tank is going to run hot water longer than a 15 gal.
As for your bill initally yes. it'll go up some. Being that the temp. works between a high and low temp. it should go back to normal. mine did. but it also depends on how much hot water you use.

Answer 7

Your shower head is not the problem. Check the size of the boiler, it should be 40 gal possibly 50 but based on comment from your landlord it is the smaller. Boilers last about 4-7 years depending on quality. The heating elements can be replaced but it is likely your boiler is old and full of sediment. It is likely time for a new one. They are not that expensive, landlord can get a good quality 40 gal boiler for less than $300.00 plus install. Good Luck!

Answer 8

Sounds like your landlord needs to replace the hot water heater with a bigger one. The shower head has nothing to do with the hot water usage. He's trying to pull a fast one. He needs to hire a plumber if he can't attend to the business at hand. Stand strong on this one. Some men think we women are idiots.

Answer 9

if the hot water tank is old it could be a sign that it needs to be replaced or if is a electric hot water the element might be going bad and needs to be replace good luck

Answer 10

George2 is right the elements r going bad,also check the setting on the thermostat,it`s at the bottom of the heater,is like a clock u could raise or lower ur temp.