If you’re like most people, you like the ability to take a hot shower whenever you want. Even if you enjoy lukewarm showers, other members of your household may prefer hotter showers, and that is everybody’s right.
If your shower isn’t getting as hot as it used to, then the first place to look is the hot water heater. The hot water that comes out of your shower comes from the hot water heater tank. In order for hot water to be sent to the shower head, it has to start there first.
Although the hot water heater is the first place to look if your water isn’t getting hot, there could be other causes that are denying you a hot shower when you want it.
Troubleshooting a Cold Shower
Check the water heater. If the water in your shower isn’t getting hot, the problem could be the temperature control on the water heater. If you have an older unit, the cold water supply dip tube could have deteriorated. In that case, a worn-out dip tube could send cold water up to the hot water feed pipe, resulting in no hot water.
On the other hand, if you have an electric unit, one of the elements could have burned out making it so the water either gets hot for a short period of time, or it just doesn’t get hot at all.
Is it a whole-house problem? Is it a whole-house problem, or is it isolated to just the one shower? Turn on all of the faucets in the house and check for hot water. If the water gets hot, but then turns cold quickly, the problem could be the burner in your hot water heater.
If the water doesn’t get hot, you could have a faulty dip tube. However, if every faucet produces hot water except for the shower, then a shower component is the culprit.
Bad O-rings. The shower valve is designed to mix the hot and cold water so you get the perfect temperature water. If the O-rings or washers are worn out, the valve won’t mix properly. If you turn the valve to “hot,” it could bring cold water.
Using all of the hot water. Consider what was happening just before you turned on the shower. If you recently ran the washing machine and used a hot cycle, or if you ran the dishwasher, or if the kids took a shower, any of these scenarios could have caused all of the hot water to get used up.
We recommend allowing 30 minutes after the last wash load or shower so the water heater can heat up the next batch of cold water.
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