If I shower before my wife in the morning, there’s no hot water left when it’s her turn. Even a half hour later! A coworker said the same thing happened to him and he ended up needing a new water heater. If that’s the case, where do I even start? I’ve never bought a water heater, so I’m clueless. My wife doesn’t care what we get, as long as it heats her shower. Got any suggestions?
Jesse, Lincoln, NE
Under normal circumstances, taking two showers back-to-back with adequate hot water shouldn’t be a problem, even with a standard, builder’s-grade, 40-gallon water heater. So unless you take unusually long showers, chances are, your hot water heater is to blame.
First, determine the age of your water heater. Most manufacturers will include the month and year your hot water heater was made in the serial number on the unit. The first two digits should tell you the month and second two digits, the year. If your water heater is 10 or more years old, it’s time to replace it. You may want to consider upgrading to a tankless water heater, sometimes referred to as an instant hot water heater. Approximately 15 percent of a home’s energy use is attributed to heating water. Standard water heaters keep a reservoir of heated water at all times, resulting in standby energy loss. Home tankless hot water heaters only provide hot water as needed, with virtually no wasted heat. They can be used on a supplementary basis or for all of your heated water delivery needs. Tankless water heaters reduce energy consumption by 10 to 15 percent, and last for about 20 years – nearly double the lifespan of standard water heaters.
If age is not the problem, your water heater could have a number of other problems, including wrong temperature setting, wrong size (capacity in gallons) for your home or a manufacturer’s defect, just to name a few. I would recommend calling a plumbing professional to accurately evaluate your specific problem and offer options to fix it.