Is your hot water running out in 5 minutes? As a plumber who has covered the Phoenix area for 30 years, this is a problem that I see quite often. Suddenly, you only have 5 minutes in the shower, and the hot water is gone.
The problem in this case is usually the hot water heater. The good news is that I can probably repair it without replacing it. If you are experiencing this problem please visit my page on water heater repair.
What causes hot water to run out faster than normal?
There are multiple problems that a hot water heater can have.
- Bad dip tube. When the dip tube goes bad you are generally left with either Luke-warm water or hot water that runs out quickly. The dip tube adds cold water to the bottom of your water heater tank (the hot water is drawn from the top). When the dip tube is broken it allows the cold water to mix with the hot water at the top of the tank.
- Bad heating element. Many water heaters have 2 heating elements. If, for example, the lower heating element goes bad, the water will not be heated.
- Bad thermostat. The thermostat senses temperatures and tells the elements when to turn on and heat water.
