Decrease in Hot Water in Winter

[Andrew in NY]

I looked through the multiple posts relating to water heaters, but did not find any describing my problem. I have a 1958 ranch home on Long Island with 1.5 baths, one kitchen, and hot water baseboard heat which is supplied by a gas furnace. I have a separate 40-gallon gas water heater which appears to be less than 5 years old. During warm months, we (just my wife & I) have no problem with the amount of hot water. We take what I believe to be average length showers in the morning and the 2nd person has all the hot water they need. However, in the winter months, this is not the case. Often times, the hot water runs out prior to the completion of the first shower, and the second person ends up with a cool shower. I can hear the heater turn on while the first shower is being taken, and it remains on during the second shower. What could be causing this? The water heater is a standalone unit with no additional tanks. Do I need some sort of reserve tank? I don’t think that our showers are significantly longer in the winter, and since the home’s heat is supplied by a separate furnace, I do not see that as the problem. I don’t mind accepting the possibility that I may need a larger heater, but we have only the two of us in the house, and think that the 40-gallon size should be sufficient. Any thoughts?

Thank you in advance for any advice.

Andrew

[Andrew in NY]

Forgot to mention something: I have tried adjusting the thermostat on the water heater both up and down, and while the water does get hotter/colder when I do this, it does not seem to have an impact on the quantity of hot water in the winter.

Andrew

[jb]

Any of the things Jay J mentioned could be it, but I have another pet theory that I bet is a contributor. I notice that I use much less hot water in the shower in the summer than in the winter. It feels the same, but ones sense of heat is different in the summer vs. winter. I have noticed that my valve points at “one o’clock” in the summer (cold being to the right and hot to the left) and that it is pointing at “11 o’clock” in the winter. If you have an undersized unit (for demand) then this might account for some of the seasonal differences. I’m not a plumber, I’m just saying that people use more hot water in the shower in the winter and there are a lot of reasons for this, not just the ones I mentioned.

I would look at what Jay said, maybe also turn up the water heater temp in the winter until you can fix it or get a better unit.

Do you drain the crud out of the bottom of the tank regularly? This can reduce the efficiency of your unit.

[bc]

It may not be your problem but you water heater is of the age where many had failed dip tubes. They dissolved and broke up. Sometimes there would be pieces of plastic in faucet strainers, etc. They were recalled and if yours is bad, then they will pay for a plumber to replace them. You should contact your plumber and the water heater company about that. The dip tube is a plastic tube hooked onto the cold water inlet at the top that channels the cold water down to the bottom for heating. When it breaks off, the cold water don’t go down and consequently doesn’t get heated like it should. If this happened, you would notice a quick shortage of water. Since you should get multiple showers out of a 40 gallon heater and you indicate that you don’t get one full shower in the winter, then I would look into the diptube. Check the manufacturer’s website for diptube info. It wouldn’t be a seasonal problem though. If not the diptube and since I can’t think of anything else, then jb has the only other reasonable answer to your problem as far as I know.

[Andrew in NY]

JayJ et al,

Thanks for the quick responses. As far as location, insulation, etc., the heater is in the unfinished side of the basement, about 3 feet from an outside wall, and about 10 feet from the floors of the 1.5 bathrooms. While the basement is a little cooler than the upstairs, I don’t think the difference exceeds 5-6 degrees. I will look again, but from what I recall, the previous owner had done a pretty good job of insulating all of the hot water pipes in the house. The heater is not wrapped, but I do not believe the basement temp ever drops below 60-65 degrees F. I have not completely drained the tank, although twice a year, I do open the drain at the bottom do get rid of any “stuff” at the bottom. The past 3 times I have opened the drain, the water exiting the tank was crystal clear. After seeing jb’s comments, I will try to notice where the faucet handle ends up when it starts getting colder to see if we are using hotter water. Perhaps a combination of the diptube (thanks bc!) and hotter showers in the winter are causing this. I forgot to look at the brand, but after I do, I will check out the company’s website or give them a call to solicit suggestions. I believe heaters are cheap, so worst case – I replace it with a slightly bigger one.

One other thing I forgot to mention, although I don’t think it matters: the previous owners were snow-birds and were only in the house from April-May until September-October each year. I know they left the furnace’s thermostat high enough in the winter to keep everything from freezing (they came up north in the winter occasionally), but may have turned off the water heater during the winter months – perhaps this caused a problem?

Thanks everyone! Unfortunately, I am generally the 2nd shower!

Andrew

[Tara Weber]

My shower has one knob for cold and hot water. When I turn the knob on to the left it is suppose to go from cold, then to hot, but when I turn it on it starts out cold, but turns completely hot and I have no cold water. What could be wrong with it. Do you have any suggestions?

Sincerely,

Tara W

[JOE DE LUCIA JR]

i have 2 knobs in my shower one for cold and oen for hot but no hot water comes out when i turn on the hot water knob. what could be the cause of this problem? lease help. thanks joe in ny

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