no hot water

No Hot Water? It Could Be Time for a New Water Heater

It’s never a good time for your hot water supply to fail. If you’ve tried to turn on the hot water in your shower or at your kitchen faucet and gotten only cold, that’s frustrating. You need that water for cleaning, bathing, and doing laundry. In the wintertime, a hot bath or shower can be especially relaxing and comforting. What is the underlying cause of your hot water failure? It could be one of a number of things. We will go through the possibilities in this blog. 

Why Is There No Hot Water? 

A water heater has a number of inputs, electricity, gas, and water, and also mechanical aspects. If something goes wrong with any one of these, your hot water output will be impacted. 

If you have a smaller water heater, you may find that it cannot keep up with your household use, so you’ll run out of hot water frequently. It may also cost more to run because of lower energy efficiency. This is the simplest hot water problem to have because you can either decide you’d like to install a larger hot water heater to better meet your needs, or you can wait for it to heat up more water. Ask your plumber if you’re not sure which size or model of hot water heater would best suit your use pattern

Another potentially simple-to-fix malfunction is an electrical issue like a tripped breaker or a high-temperature cut-off switch on your water heater. To determine if it’s a breaker problem, turn off your water heater and then check your circuit breaker to see if a breaker has tripped. You can then turn it off and then on again. If that does not solve the problem or your breaker trips again, you will need to call an electrician for assistance. 

Gas Problems

If your water heater is gas powered, there are several potential problems that involve gas. One of them is a gas leak. If you smell gas in your home for any reason, you need to contact your gas company immediately. Gas leaks are dangerous, especially during the winter when your house is closed up and there is no way for gas to escape outside. 

You may have a leaky supply line or a failing gas valve. If your water heater runs on gas, it will have a pilot light and a burner located at the bottom of the heater behind an access panel. Check that your pilot light is on. If it’s not on, relight it. If it goes out again, you have a problem with your gas line, and you will need to involve a trained technician to examine your heater and determine what is wrong. 

A Malfunctioning Water Heater

There are a number of ways the water heater itself could fail. You may notice that the water temperature swings or is inconsistent. It heats but unpredictably. It could have a bad thermostat, a failing or broken heating element, or sediment buildup. 

The tank could also have a leak. If the water leaks out of the unit, it won’t heat, of course, but it will also make a mess. You may not be able to determine the source of the leak yourself. If your water heater is leaking, turn off the water to your tank, and call your plumber. An experienced technician will be able to inspect the tank, the pipes, connections, and valves, diagnose the problem, and let you know your options for repair or replacement. 

If you are in the Alpena, Michigan area and experience the problem of no hot water when you turn on your faucet, call us at Weinkauf Plumbing and Heating. Our trained technicians will be able to diagnose your problem quickly and find a solution to get your hot water running again. Contact us at (989) 354-5427 for help. We’re here to make sure you can be safe, warm, and comfortable in your home this winter. 

 

About Luke Gerhart
Luke is the President of Weinkauf Plumbing & Heating, Inc., has been a Alpena County resident for over 22 years. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management from Ferris University, and has over 35 years of construction experience in Michigan.