What to Do If You Lose Hot Water

As a homeowner, there’s nothing worse than jumping into your morning shower and being rudely awoken to freezing cold water. When there’s no hot water in a home, chances are it’s time to consider water heating repair.

At All Hours Plumbing, Drain Cleaning, Heating & Cooling, we’re here to help with water heaters and any other winter plumbing issue that may arise. Here are some basics on what you should do if you find that there’s no hot water in your system, broken down by what type of water heater you have in your home.

Gas Heater

Those with a gas heater should consider the following:

• Pilot light: For starters, check the pilot light to make sure it hasn’t been blown out by a downdraft or a quick swift of air. The water heater should have instructions on it for how to relight the pilot easily. One note here, however: If you smell gas, or if you have a pilot light that sits in an enclosed chamber, you’ll have to call one of our plumbers and your gas company.
• Thermocouple: If the gas light isn’t the culprit, the next area to look is the thermocouple, a safety device designed to stop the flow of gas when the pilot light goes out. You might have to readjust or replace this piece. This is likely the most common cause of a lack of hot water.
• Gas line: If neither of these areas is the answer, check your gas line to make sure it’s open and not tangled anywhere. Call your gas company to make sure you have gas access.

Electric Heater

• Reset: Like many other pieces of electronics, and electric water heater may just need a quick reset – turn it off and back on again, then wait about 30 minutes to see if you have hot water.
• Hard reset: This is an electrical reset using your home’s circuit breaker. Flip the switch that provides power to the water heater, then wait 30 seconds and flip it back on. If the circuit switch doesn’t stay on completely, this could be a circuit breaker problem.
• Age: If your water heater is 10 years old or older, problems may become more likely and age might be the simple reason why you lost hot water.

For more on what to do when the hot water heater has issues, or to learn about our water heating repair or any of our other plumbing services, speak to the pros at All Hours Plumbing, Drain Cleaning, Heating & Cooling today.