hot water heaters?

Question

how do you get a hot water heater to heat more water at one time....i have no idea about anything in this subject...my hot water heater only heats about 15 minutes of hot water and my mom would like more hot water than that...even just a few more minutes of hot water would be great...please help

Answer 1

The only way, without getting a larger hot water heater, is to set the temp guage to a higher setting, then you use a mix of more cold to less hot at the faucet, to get the water temp you want. This way your hot water will last a little longer.

Answer 2

Assuming you have a heater that has the volume you need (they come in all sorts of sizes by the gallon):
First, you may have an older HWH that has collected sediment over the years, reducing the volume of water available. If you have a floor drain close to the HWH, open the faucet at the bottom of the heater and allow water along with sediment to drain out. Do not drain all the water unless you turn off the HWH (if electric pull plug or switch off, if gas use the knob for that purpose, located close to the pilot light area). Be sure to turn water source back on before starting the HWH again if you have shut it off.
If no floor drain, keep using a pan.
If all else fails, you may have to find another heater. They do wear out over time. All of this is predicated on the fact that you do get hot water, but not enough.
Finally, there are some internet suggestions about maintaining, just google or yahoo hot water heater maintenance and look for an article not an ad.

Answer 3

What size is your water heater & what are you doing that is using up it's capicity in 15 minutes?

I wonder if you have a problem with your water heater. It is not uncommon with an electric water heater to have a very short supply of hot water (typically 10-12 minutes) if one of the heating elements is not working.

There are typically two (2) heating elements in an electric water heater. An upper and a lower. If one of them fails, you get an endless supply of lukewarm water. If the other fails, you get a short supply of water hotter than usual, followed by cold water. I'll be back in a minute with a clarification on which element failing causes which symptom.

Answer 4

As Scrappy says, you need to turn up the temperature setting on the water heater.

This is usually a dial on the front of the water heater and turning to the right would set the temperature of the water higher. Doing this will also increase your gas bill.

TO offset that, if you have not got one already it would be a good idea to have a water heater blanket around it, this will make sure the water stays hot longer.

Just make sure everyone in the house tests the water before jumping i the shower, because turning up the heater could mean people who are not used to it could get scalding hot water, if they don't check first.

Answer 5

Hot water heater? There is no such thing. Hot water doesn't need to be heated. You need a cold water heater. Or a hot water cooler. (George Carlin)

Anyway, your water heater has a certain volume of water in it. As you use the hot water, it's replaced by cold water that takes time to heat up. For a certain flowrate through your shower head, it will take a certain amount of time to use all of that hot water and be left in the cold, so to speak. In your case, the water heater runs out of hot water in about 15 minutes.

To increase the time that you have hot water available, you must either increase the volume of water that the water heater holds (buy a new one) or decrease the flowrate of the water coming through the shower head (turn the shower down or get a restricted flow shower head).

Answer 6

A lot of good answers. one other thing that could be wrong, also, is the dip tube. see link below. this says for electric, but also pertains to any water heater with a tank.

this would have to be done with some plumbing experience, but not expensive.

Answer 7

This is one of my favorite oxymorons :-)

There's no such thing as a hot water heater. Hot water, by definition, is already hot. You're actually talking about a cold water heater, because it heats cold water and makes it hot.

Or, just a water heater, for short.

As far as the answer to your question . . . I have no clue.

Answer 8

DAVID M. is the man to listen to if you are talking electric. That is exactly what is going on at your home. One of the has shorted out and you are only getting one element heating. Easy fix too!