Most people appreciate long hot baths and coffee every morning. But when cold water starts to gush from the shower or if you can’t make your favorite brew because there’s something wrong with your appliance, then it might be time to check what’s going on.

One of the essential appliances inside the house is a water heater that most people can’t seem to turn off. But with most gadgets inside the home, the heaters also have life spans, and they need maintenance. Problems are sure to come out from time to time, but fortunately, these are products that are simple to fix.

Most of the components in this type of appliance are few compared to refrigerators and washing machines. This means that you can replace some parts or repair the broken ones without needing to spend a lot of money. But when the main problem is inside the tank itself, the only option for a new homeowner can be to buy a new one or call a professional near them to make sure that everything can be fixed.

But before shopping at your local store, you may want to check us out by reading the common issues stated here that many homeowners also experience with their water heaters. When you know where to look, troubleshooting becomes easy, and you may put off buying a new appliance after all.

Common Problems with Water Heaters

Leaks from the Top Part

The most common causes of these are leaking valves, damaged pressure relief valves, leaking joints, problems in the PVC joints, or threaded pipes. You need to turn off the electrical source of the appliance. If you are using the gas type, you need to turn off the thermostat. Leave the cold water inlet on to identify the leaks. If you can’t see any holes or leaks, carefully run a dry hand on the fittings and pipes. Wrap all the tubes with tissue paper and watch out for wet areas.

Some heaters have valves that can be identified by joints having handles. You can check the manual where yours are located if you are unsure. When the handle is parallel or vertical to the pipes, then the water flows. When it is at a right angle, then this means that the valve is closed. If the valve itself is the one that is dripping, you can try to tighten the nut that connects it to the pipe. If tightening the nut makes the leaks worse, then you may want to find a replacement for this.

No Hot Water Coming Out

You may need to look at faulty thermostats, a tripped circuit breaker, accidental grounding, and tripped reset button to identify the problems that made the heater stopped producing hot water. The upper thermostat controls most of the temperature. If you notice that you are receiving cold water while showering, it’s possible that the lower controls of the thermostat failed to do its job. The solution for this would be to get and install a replacement thermostat.

There are times when you need to check the box that contains the circuit breaker to see if the heater has been tripped. Some appliances need their electrical circuits, and your heater is one of them. One of the indications that the circuit breaker for this appliance has tripped is that the breaker is not in line with the others inside the box. You can try flipping the switch off and on to see if it solves the problem. But if it does not, you can call an electrician to confirm if the issue is coming out of the circuit breaker box.

How Water is Not Enough

You are showering in a relaxed manner when suddenly, cold water begins to come out from the shower. This issue can be traced to a faulty thermostat. This can be solved by simply adjusting the levels of the thermostat to your desired temperature. Read more about thermostats here: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Thermostat

There are electric models where the thermostats are usually located behind access panels. These panels can be found on the side with a layer of insulation or two. If you have this kind of model, know that these should always be set at factory levels and should not be changed. But when it’s necessary, try changing the levels to get more hot water.

In the winter season, raise the temperature of the thermostat slightly because the water cools off quickly. This is an issue, especially if the water needs to travel inside freezing pipes to the home plumbing.

If you experience problems where the water is too hot, this can again be traced with issues in the thermostat. Lower the temperature, especially if the season is transitioning from colder to warmer seasons. There are recommended settings when it comes to temperatures, so be sure to check them out.