Cold temperatures cause people to want to do two things; one, crawl up with a cozy blanket in front of a fireplace, or two, get into a nice warm bath or a scorching hot shower.
As you undress, turn on your water and hop into the shower or bath, the water touches your skin… brrr… it’s ice-cold. Not the best way to warm up when it’s frigid outside!
What caused your hot water to come out of the faucet cold instead of hot, you may be wondering? There is only one reason this would happen – there is an issue with your water heater.
Common water heater problems
- There isn’t enough hot water in your water heater. If your water heater is not full of hot water, that means it is not producing enough. This could be because the settings on your water heater are not correctly set which can be easily adjusted using the switch on your machine that asks you how many people you have in your home.
Switch it to be set to one or two more people and you should always have hot water. Another reason this happens is that the temperature of your water is not set correctly. Check the temperature and make sure it’s high enough to keep hot water in the tank.
- There isn’t any hot water in your water heater. This is common mostly because hot water heaters are run through gas lines and your pilot light may have blown. A plumber can easily replace this for you.
- The water is smelly. If you notice the water from your water heater is smelly, there could be bacteria trapped in the heater.
This can usually be resolved without the help of a professional if you are comfortable flushing the tank with water and peroxide. If not, contact your local plumbing company to do this for you.
- The water heater has a puddle of water outside it. This means it is time for you to invest in a new water heater as yours has reached its life.
Contact your local plumbing company to discuss your options and see if they offer financing or if you need to purchase one for installation through an exterior vendor.
