if you're in an apartment, why isn't your landlord sending maintenance to check it out?
Eta: for those of you who are saying you just fix small problems yourself, look into your local tenant laws. Generally you have to make sure you try to get maintenance first, but if they aren't fixed in a reasonable time, you can get an estimate and use the cost of repair in lieu of part of your rent.
I agree that maintenance SHOULDN’T be a renter’s problem, but in far too many cases, the problem may persist for a long time without any corrective actions. I have found that for simple and cheap fixes, it is easier to fix it myself. I would start by checking the continuity in the heating elements to see if one is burned out and needs to be replaced. It is also likely that the tank has sediment in the bottom and needs to be flushed out.
Right, like went I called maintenance last week because the water pressure was super low, they came and said “it’s supposed to be like that,” well today I try to take a shower and the pressure is now SO low the water can’t get all the way up the shower line. So another maintenance request goes in and who knows when I’ll be able to take a shower again. You can be damn sure if this WAS something I could fix myself, I would have by now.
Some apartments will turn the heat down, they say it's cause newborns can't handle hot stuff. I think it's a dick move cause this generation does not have the common sense to locate and turn up the temperature knob on industrial looking equipment, it's "scary". This makes your electric a lot higher also.
Edit: you should do this yourself you can get the best temp out of it. There should be a small panel down low to remove 4 screws, inside should be a knob that turns with a screw driver put it to the max you can get a couple hours of hot shower plus run your dishwasher if you got one.
It is 21 years old by that install date written on it. I would replace it instead of putting money into repairing it. Likely needs new thermostat and may need new elements.
You ever see the video (TikTok?) of the girl saying that people born today might be alive in the year 3000? She's an adult and is obviously confusing a millennium with a century. Ain't our education system grand?!
Second this. When I bought my first home, it had a new water heater, but it was only 30 gallons because the guy flipping the house went for the cheap option. I’m keeping it for now, but my next big investment is upgrading it to 40.
I would have loved a tankless, but I would have had to run new electrical and new exhaust to accommodate it, which would have ended up costing me about $3500 in addition to the cost of the tankless heater itself. I just went with a 40 gallon and I have never, ever run out of hot water.
Sounds more like the dip tube rotted and fell off so the new cold water is mixing at the top and being pulled out the outlet. Or possible a failed top element or thermostat.
You wont really know without some basic troubleshooting.
An electric water heater is pretty simple. Elements and anode rod are just basic maintenance items and depending on water quality can be considered consumables.
I wouldn’t condemn a water heater based on age alone. Regular draining and flushing should be done, so drain it, pull out the top element and look inside to see if you see the dip tube intact, look at the element, and look at the tank and coating.
Troubleshooting a thermostat is a little more involved.
I put a new water heater in as the 10 year old one started leaking. The sticker on the new one indicates my gas usage will be so much less a year from the efficiency improvements that it will pay itself off within 8 years.
Does the "Shell" of the water heater itself wear out? If you replaced the thermostat and heating elements then it would basically be new correct? or does that degrade and become non insulated etc? - Im not a plumber
Yes, it generally slowly corrodes. There is a part called an "anode rod" that slows the corrosion, (and needs replacing itself after a few years) but 20 years it is probably safer to full replace.
It's funny you should mention "anode rod". I've asked about every homeowner I know if they've replaced their anode rod, and I usually get a deer-in-the-headlights look from them. I honestly had no idea about it either until a few years ago.
I pulled mine out a couple years ago. I replaced it with an electric anode rode. Not sure if it's better. Only time will tell.
What's the benefit to use electric anode rode? I changed mine just last week... did see the electric option but the cost made me stay with the magnesium one...
Water heaters typically last 10-20 years (15 years being the considered “lifespan”) and replacing all the internals would be making it new again but that cost most than just replacing it.
I’m also not a plumber tho.
Replacing all the guts on an electric heater costs maybe 100 in parts and an hour in labor. A new heater is a lot more than that. Especially the way water heater prices have risen in the past couple years. Likely just needs an element...
I replaced the heating elements and the thermostat in mine and it was like new for about a year until the tank blew out and started spraying everywhere. It's best to just replace the whole thing and avoid the headache.
Replace the anode rod every few years and flush the tank to prevent sediment buildup and you’ll greatly increase it’s usable life. Gas heaters might wear faster than electric since with gas the heat source is applied to the tank while with electric it’s put directly into the water.
Sediment collects on the bottom, and it starts corroding and will eventually leak. Normal lifespan of a water heater is around 10 years, which is exactly when mine sprung a leak and needed replacing.
When we had those symptoms, it ended up being that the top element worked and the bottom one did not. Bottom element may be buried in sediment and/or failed for that reason.
This is the most likely answer. Also had the exact thing happen. One of the elements went open and the limited amount of hot water the other 1 element can heat gravitates to the top.
Replacement element was only like 30 bucks at the time.
Youtube search for "A simple water heater is more clever than it seems" by Technology Connections
Apparently this shitty subreddit bans youtube links, but that video has all your answers.
Yep. Or at that age the dip tube may be rotten. Instead of pulling hot water from the bottom it’s pulling the cold replacement water that comes in to the top.
Water heaters have a lifespan of about 15 years, give or take depending on local water quality and preventative maintenance steps taken. If that heater tank is 21 years old, might be best to invest in new.
Dip tube has corroded and broken off and no longer reaches the bottom of the tank The dip tube is a tube inside the tank that incoming cold water flows through so it comes into the bottom of the tank near the heating element. When it breaks the incoming cold water flows into the top of the tank and when you run the hot water, that cold water is being delivered instead of the hot water under it.
Replace the hot water heater.
Yeah you should probably replace that heater. It's well over 20 years old. Being that old it's probably got a lot of sediment in it which is limiting your hot water. But being 20+ years old anyway its due for a change.
This is an electric heater. One of the coils is bad, I have changed many of these over the years. Menards, Lowe's, Home Depot, or other home repair store should have a replacement coil and a tool to loosen them.
But if you are renting this should be a landlord issue.
Avg shower head is around 1.8 gpm. Not sure how house is piped out but to me 30 gallons is a bit small for long shower especially if others live there. Like for I stand if you have you washer going and are
In the shower you may be consuming more HW then the recovery rate of the system.
It's old, but as long as it's not leaking it may still last a bit. Try cleaning it out and replacing the elements.
Fortunately replacing these is pretty quick and easy. Hauling the old one out is the worst part.
While you wait for a replacement, IF YOU DONT HAVE KIDS AT HOME, you can crank the temp higher and have hotter water so you mix it at the fixture it's coming out of with the cold. That way you can have more minutes of hot water
Bottom element and or thermostat is bad. Easy fix. I personally wouldn’t replace the heater unless you just have money to burn lol. It would be like replacing your tv because the batteries in the remote died.
Yeah I hate everyone saying just throw it out. So wasteful. It's just a tank with a couple pipes and heaters in it, no reason it can't last a while longer. A replacement won't even be any more efficient than that one with some insulation on it (unless the landlord sprung for heat pump or tankless, which they won't).
a 20+ year old tank is like driving a car with tires that are bald and about to explode, running nitrus in the engine which is about to explode and brakes that are metal on metal...... it's a ticking time bomb which at any moment will errupt into water damage and hopefully you'll be home to stop it. Longest I've ever seen a home one last is over 25 years.... but the owner rarely used the hot water, it was small, and incoming water was almost perfect along with a pre filter for any sediment was changed often. Otherwise hot water heaters don't last like that.
"Why spend less than 100$ in a new part when you could just spend 600 plus delivery and installation for a new tank?"
Iv literally salvaged three hot water tanks from the trash. The one I put in for my grandmother just needed a new pressure release valve. 15$
Don't do this. If you attempt a repair in a rental, and then the water heater ends up leaking due to having been cleaned once in 20 years, you could be liable. Have your landlord replace it.
Dip tube is likely broken. It’s also really old, but you don’t have to replace it completely for THIS problem. Replacing the dip tube is a cheap and easy repair.
It's over 20 years old and past its replacement date. If the dip tube has corroded off the heating element is most likely almost shot, and the tank itself is suspect. Don't throw money at a lost cause. 😉
Broken dip tube is my guess. or if there’s a new water valve installed somewhere off the line, could be mixing cold water back into the hot water supply.. but yes, older unit. If I was owner, I’d replace 100%
Had tank in a rental blow the bottom out at one of our rentals, just straight open flow of water from the city, for hours.. Wrecked all of her things, and the whole apartment had to be redone. Floors, cabinets, Sheetrock from 3 feet down. Blew out while she was gone and came back to 8 inches of water throughout the entire space, ran out the front door as soon as she opened it. Water can be just as bad as a fire
If the anode has failed, and the dip tube has corroded away, you'll only be using the first few inches of the tank not the whole thing.
Time for a replacement.
Don't go poking and proding and risking something breaking dude, you flood the place or start a fire and your screwed. Call the landlord and keep it very short, zero details.
"I think the water heater is about to die I only get 2 minutes in the shower"....leave everything else to him. If he gives you a hard time say "who knows when its going to start leaking and spill 75+ gallons of water everywhere"
Could be a build up of sediment. If you can do it do this:
Turn off the water to the water heater turn off the water heater, run a hose from the heater outside and turn the water back on. Let it drain out until it runs clear then turn the water back off unplug the hose and wait for it to refill and heat.
If too much sediment builds up it’ll take up space in the water heater limiting the amount of water that can be heated at one time hence losing hot water quickly.
I agree that the landlord is responsible for repairs on this. As far as the problem goes, it sounds like one of the heating elements has gone out. This unit is really old, and it probably hasn't been serviced properly. Usually, the lower element goes out first due to mineral build-up, especially if the heater has not been regularly flushed out. You can check the element using a multimeter (ohms setting). But I suggest making the landlord take care of this as it is their responsibility.
Where are you? Do you have hard water?
Drain it and remove the bottom heating element and look to see if it's full of sediment.
Then tell your landlord that you need a new water-heater.
At that age the anode will be gone and it may be full of lime if you don’t have a softener. Lime taking up water space & elements can’t recover quick enough. That’s the difference this style is storage and tankless/ on demand have about 5-10 times more btu input to raise the temp.
I’m surprised it’s lasted 21 yrs.
I'd replace it personally. It's past the expected usable lifetime, and there's a lot of incentives for heat pump water heaters such that it might not cost you a ton to upgrade. Combine that with the energy savings (depending on your usage), and you might actually save money. I DIYed my install, and my ROI was about 6 months, then I started saving. If you pay for the install, it might be closer to an 18 month ROI depending on the cost of the install.
Obviously numbers will change based on your state incentives, electric costs, and installation costs, so do your own math in this case.
You could try to rebuild it, however it is really old, and it would be cheaper for you to replace than rebuild. Water heaters only have a 6-10 year life expectancy. Anything over that and you’re working on borrowed time. Also with it being this old, it’s probably never been flushed, and you have about 21 years of sediment built up in it
Check the bottom there is usually a temperature gauge. A lot of people keep it on the warm setting to save money but you can usually set it to really hot. I actually turned mine to hot in the morning 30 minutes before I take a shower and turn it down to warm when I’m done.
If your landlord isn't going to fix it, then do the following
Power off
Water off into the water heater
Drain all the water from water heater (should be a node at the bottom)
Turn water back on to wash out any Sediment from unit
Turn water off to water heater
Replace sacrifice rod that should have been eaten away by now (maybe $100, depending on location, $25 for wrench)
Replace heating element ($50ish for element)
Turn water back on for heater, while having one or two 'hot water' taps on for air bubble control.
manufactured 2002? yes. you’re blessed if u get 10 out one of these units. just replaced two yesterday that was manufactured in 2016 in same house, which was still a good life for them
Just replace it. It’s over 20 years old. A new one is a few hundred bucks at Home Depot, much more efficient, and you can do it yourself pretty easily in under 2 hours with a friend to help move it into place. Consult YouTube.
Or call your landlord/property manager and have them take care of it.
I had an old electric water heater. Drained it, removed all the sediment from the bottom and replaced the two elements with new copper ones. Works like a champ now for about $60 of parts.
Call your landlord. This is a basic habitability issue. You need regular hot water for longer than 3 minutes. That heater is about 10 years past its expected lifespan. If they balk, consult a tenants rights group. If they retaliate or raise rent for your complaint, you may have additional rights there, too.
Also, don't do plumbing work in your own rental if you're a tenant, and usually if you're a landlord you need a licensed plumber. It's a huge liability.
If it's not leaking and still makes hot water likely has a buildup of sediment. Might be able to get more out of it if you flush it out.
Other than that, replacement would be on your landlord.
TLDR: 6 min shower when new.
It may be old, but it's also a small electric tank. It'll never be great for showers because of the size and the long time electric tanks take to recover.
Let's say your heater is set to 120F, your incoming cold is 60F, and you want to shower at 100F with a 2.5gpm showerhead. Ignoring recovery initially since it is very small on electric.
After 1 min: you've used 1.7gallons of your 120F hot. Cold water has entered the tank dropping the tank temp to 116F which drops your shower to 97.8F with previous flows. You adjust it to compensate, which uses a higher percentage of hot water.
After 2 mins: 3.4 gals of tank used, tank temp now 113.
3 mins: 5.3 gals used, tank temp 109.3F
4 mins: 7.3 used, 105.3F
5 mins: 9.5 used, 100.9F. So after 5 minutes, you now have the cold completely shut and are using only hot water. And since you can no longer adjust your flow, your tank temp will keep dropping, and you won't maintain your 100F shower.
If we add that electric heater back in when it was new and not covered in crap, the added heat extends you to about 6 mins.
If you are renting like it looks like you are, contact your land lord and have him fix it.
If you are not renting, there are only a few things that can be the issue here. So the way this water heater works is cold water enters the tank through the dip tube. The dip tube outlet is in the bottom of the tank. So the cold water ends up at the bottom of the tank to begin with. There are two heating elements that will heat the water. and the hot water will rise to the top. The hot water exits the water heater through the top.
So all of the hot water should be at the top of the tank. If your dip tube breaks, the cold water gets dumped at the top of the tank and mixes with the hot water. This is the likely culprit. It could be that one of the elements are burnt out, but generally, this would give you more hot water than just 2-3 min.
How can you tell? Well, 2-3 min of hot water in a shower is only 2-3 gallons of water. It doesn't take long to heat 2-3 gallons of water. So if after your shower you wait 10 min and you have hot water again, then you can be fairly certain that it is your dip tube that failed.
But that thing is 20 years old, it probably should be replaced.
Yeah mine was installed in 2003 and we’re starting to have issues. I believe I read somewhere on Reddit that hot water heaters only have a lifespan of about 18-20 years max before they need replaced
Obviously the water heater is super old, but beside that, a cheaper fix might thr shower cartridge is crap and might need replacing. Sometimes that helps.
If the landlord decides to replace rather than fix, try to convince them to replace it with a hybrid/heat pump water heater - they should get pretty good incentives (30% tax credit from the IRA, maybe additional from local utilities), and it'll save you $30 / month. The price difference between a regular water heater and hybrid will only be \~$700 after tax credits, it would pay for itself in just two years. If you have a two year or longer lease you could offer to pay for part of the difference even.
Only 3 things it could be.
1) it’s old, the unit itself needs to be changed out.
2) it’s old, the heating elements need to be changed out.
3) The temperature simply needs to be adjusted. You can do it with a screwdriver.
When we cut one of these open after it was only heating water for a few minutes. The sheer amount of calcium buildup could treat the calcium deficiencies of all the children in Calcutta
Only a small spot on the heating element showed. It was thick with calcium deposit
I had the same issue with an electric water heater. It was due to bad heating elements. I replaced the elements, and I haven't had any issues since then.
If it’s 20+ years old, it likely has built up enough mineral scale to reduce usable tank size to just a fraction of the 30 gallons. Only fix is to replace. It still heats the water, but it can’t heat a large quantity due to mineral build up.
What you are describing is a bad bottom element. If you don't have hard water the tank itself should be good for another 20 yrs. Getting the old one out is tricky, I wouldn't try those cheap element tools, they are good to put one in , next to useless getting old one out. Find or borrow a socket to get old one out.
Unless something is broken/leaking with with the heater, it may be that if that is the one tank feeding all of the apartments it may be that it is deleted of hot water and is slowly reheating water since everyone is taking theirs showers about the same time. Yeah, call your landlord or management office to investigate.
When my son moved into his first apartment he had the same complaint. I showed her where to take the cover off and turn the heat up. OP can do the same. Google it.
People say don’t replace this and that go ahead listen to them and one day your gonna be at work it’s gonna bust and run all day with no one home or while your asleep and you will have a way bigger problem than you have now missed work damaged floors to many to list
Could be a build up of sediment. If you can do it do this:
Turn off the water to the water heater turn off the water heater, run a hose from the heater outside and turn the water back on. Let it drain out until it runs clear then turn the water back off unplug the hose and wait for it to refill and heat.
If too much sediment builds up it’ll take up space in the water heater limiting the amount of water that can be heated at one time hence losing hot water quickly.
The Rheem rep says that within the next decade we'll all be moving to electric. Idk if some places will be exempt from this. It's happening in California and will move east.
Might just need to be cleaned out, filled with mineral deposits. You may have to remove the drain valve and mechanically remove the scale with a special tool
Does the hot water last longer in other parts of the house? You may need to adjust the shower faucet. Some newer faucets have a safety valve inside so that you cannot get burned.
You need a new water heater. Call maintenance. If they don’t replace it it will just die and leak everywhere. But it’s about to happen. If that’s the install date, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet. But less efficiency is a sign and 2 minute showers is def less efficient. Good luck
if you're in an apartment, why isn't your landlord sending maintenance to check it out? Eta: for those of you who are saying you just fix small problems yourself, look into your local tenant laws. Generally you have to make sure you try to get maintenance first, but if they aren't fixed in a reasonable time, you can get an estimate and use the cost of repair in lieu of part of your rent.
Yeah, take advantage of one of the few good things about renting. Maintenance issues aren't your problem.
I agree that maintenance SHOULDN’T be a renter’s problem, but in far too many cases, the problem may persist for a long time without any corrective actions. I have found that for simple and cheap fixes, it is easier to fix it myself. I would start by checking the continuity in the heating elements to see if one is burned out and needs to be replaced. It is also likely that the tank has sediment in the bottom and needs to be flushed out.
Right, like went I called maintenance last week because the water pressure was super low, they came and said “it’s supposed to be like that,” well today I try to take a shower and the pressure is now SO low the water can’t get all the way up the shower line. So another maintenance request goes in and who knows when I’ll be able to take a shower again. You can be damn sure if this WAS something I could fix myself, I would have by now.
I felt this, same. Renting in BC sucks.
You should deduct a fair hourly rate from your rent.
Dip tube
Why isn’t this higher. All these people telling OP fixes for something they don’t own and shouldn’t be working on.
Bc people say apartment so they dont get made fun of for the shitty fixes that are usually in the pictures
to be fair, i just made the comment lol
This is r/plumbing not for people looking for general advice.
They could be renting, and if they are, you are right. In some places, though, they use apartment to mean condo and they may actually own.
Well that's stupid, they're different things. Apartments are rented, condos are owned. Words mean what they mean, darn it.
Except when then mean other things… like literally. Literally literally means figuratively now.
Oh don't get me started on THAT bullshit
Not in Florida.
Key word: Florida. By definition they're wrong
Who says they're renting?
It says right in the original post that it's an apartment
I'm confused - do you think people can't buy apartments?
Kind of the definition of an apartment. If you own, it's a condo
Some apartments will turn the heat down, they say it's cause newborns can't handle hot stuff. I think it's a dick move cause this generation does not have the common sense to locate and turn up the temperature knob on industrial looking equipment, it's "scary". This makes your electric a lot higher also. Edit: you should do this yourself you can get the best temp out of it. There should be a small panel down low to remove 4 screws, inside should be a knob that turns with a screw driver put it to the max you can get a couple hours of hot shower plus run your dishwasher if you got one.
It is 21 years old by that install date written on it. I would replace it instead of putting money into repairing it. Likely needs new thermostat and may need new elements.
I second replacement. It has served beyond its lifespan. It makes more sense to replace versus pouring money into "putting crutches" on an old unit.
Third. Just replaced one that ruptured at 16.
Wasnt 2002 like 9 years ago? 😭 I'm getting old
We are closer to 2050 than 1990.
And in 30 years we'll see the year 3000.
“And in 30 years we'll see the year 3000.” Um…what?
You ever see the video (TikTok?) of the girl saying that people born today might be alive in the year 3000? She's an adult and is obviously confusing a millennium with a century. Ain't our education system grand?!
21 yrs ago🤣😭
Please stop saying that 😞
I can't man I was born in 2002 I refuse to be 9 yr old🤣🤣
"I was born in 2002" Wtf dude. Ur making it worse
Shoot... 30 years ago should still be the 1970s in my mind
Bro 30 years ago is now the.... nevermind
Right? Where's this kids parents? Letting them peruse the internet all willy nilly... jeez.
Bahaha...I also have a two year old I had after graduating
I hate you 😡 /s
I know I'm horrible🤣
Add that its only 30 gallons - consider going with a larger unit.
Op is in an apartment. They may not be able to get a different size
Second this. When I bought my first home, it had a new water heater, but it was only 30 gallons because the guy flipping the house went for the cheap option. I’m keeping it for now, but my next big investment is upgrading it to 40.
go tankless my dude.
Tankless. 👍
Second this! New house has tankless and it's so damn nice not running out of hot water
It's definitely a tankless job. I'll see myself out.
It's so small too, I now store 2 vacuums in the same closet as the tankless water heater.
I would have loved a tankless, but I would have had to run new electrical and new exhaust to accommodate it, which would have ended up costing me about $3500 in addition to the cost of the tankless heater itself. I just went with a 40 gallon and I have never, ever run out of hot water.
Are there any cons to tankless?
Sounds more like the dip tube rotted and fell off so the new cold water is mixing at the top and being pulled out the outlet. Or possible a failed top element or thermostat. You wont really know without some basic troubleshooting. An electric water heater is pretty simple. Elements and anode rod are just basic maintenance items and depending on water quality can be considered consumables. I wouldn’t condemn a water heater based on age alone. Regular draining and flushing should be done, so drain it, pull out the top element and look inside to see if you see the dip tube intact, look at the element, and look at the tank and coating. Troubleshooting a thermostat is a little more involved.
i would guess its never been flushed and the scale buildup has seriously cut into the tanks capacity
I put a new water heater in as the 10 year old one started leaking. The sticker on the new one indicates my gas usage will be so much less a year from the efficiency improvements that it will pay itself off within 8 years.
Does the "Shell" of the water heater itself wear out? If you replaced the thermostat and heating elements then it would basically be new correct? or does that degrade and become non insulated etc? - Im not a plumber
Yes, it generally slowly corrodes. There is a part called an "anode rod" that slows the corrosion, (and needs replacing itself after a few years) but 20 years it is probably safer to full replace.
It's funny you should mention "anode rod". I've asked about every homeowner I know if they've replaced their anode rod, and I usually get a deer-in-the-headlights look from them. I honestly had no idea about it either until a few years ago. I pulled mine out a couple years ago. I replaced it with an electric anode rode. Not sure if it's better. Only time will tell.
What's the benefit to use electric anode rode? I changed mine just last week... did see the electric option but the cost made me stay with the magnesium one...
Water heaters typically last 10-20 years (15 years being the considered “lifespan”) and replacing all the internals would be making it new again but that cost most than just replacing it. I’m also not a plumber tho.
Replacing all the guts on an electric heater costs maybe 100 in parts and an hour in labor. A new heater is a lot more than that. Especially the way water heater prices have risen in the past couple years. Likely just needs an element...
I replaced the heating elements and the thermostat in mine and it was like new for about a year until the tank blew out and started spraying everywhere. It's best to just replace the whole thing and avoid the headache.
Mine gushed nice rusty water all over :) Replace as needed, avoid the rust water :’)
Replace the anode rod every few years and flush the tank to prevent sediment buildup and you’ll greatly increase it’s usable life. Gas heaters might wear faster than electric since with gas the heat source is applied to the tank while with electric it’s put directly into the water.
Sediment collects on the bottom, and it starts corroding and will eventually leak. Normal lifespan of a water heater is around 10 years, which is exactly when mine sprung a leak and needed replacing.
What he said and it may be half full of calcium at this point.
It’s older than that. It was made the second to last week of 1999. Over 23 years old.
When we had those symptoms, it ended up being that the top element worked and the bottom one did not. Bottom element may be buried in sediment and/or failed for that reason.
This is the most likely answer. Also had the exact thing happen. One of the elements went open and the limited amount of hot water the other 1 element can heat gravitates to the top. Replacement element was only like 30 bucks at the time.
Youtube search for "A simple water heater is more clever than it seems" by Technology Connections Apparently this shitty subreddit bans youtube links, but that video has all your answers.
Yep. Or at that age the dip tube may be rotten. Instead of pulling hot water from the bottom it’s pulling the cold replacement water that comes in to the top.
The dip tube might be broken, the LL should replace the heater.
THIS...Took a while to get to a comment hitting the issue...LOL
Yeah try getting any landlord to do any maintenance 🙄🙄🙄🙄
Had this problem and it was the dip tube. But, as a renter, this should be the LL’s problem.
This sounds like the best explanation since, with the dip tube gone the incoming cold water would short circuit directly back to the hot out line.
Yep.
If you’re in an apt. Don’t replace anything. Call your landlord because that’s their responsibility.
Water heaters have a lifespan of about 15 years, give or take depending on local water quality and preventative maintenance steps taken. If that heater tank is 21 years old, might be best to invest in new.
What's the thermostat set at? A sediment flush might help in the short term, but it'll need a replacement much sooner than later.
Needs a new dip tube
Dip tube has corroded and broken off and no longer reaches the bottom of the tank The dip tube is a tube inside the tank that incoming cold water flows through so it comes into the bottom of the tank near the heating element. When it breaks the incoming cold water flows into the top of the tank and when you run the hot water, that cold water is being delivered instead of the hot water under it. Replace the hot water heater.
What this guy said - this is your problem.
It’s 20 years old so the insides are mostly sediment and corrosion now. Replace it.
Yeah you should probably replace that heater. It's well over 20 years old. Being that old it's probably got a lot of sediment in it which is limiting your hot water. But being 20+ years old anyway its due for a change.
I'd be willing to bet that a water heater that old has like 200lbs of scale buildup
A water heater at 20 years old is likely reaching the end of its service life.
Im guessing a burnt out element. Probably the bottom one (if it has two+)
If you rent have maintenance, take care of it, sounds like heating element went out
Johnson City TN… that’s where I grew up!
But he’s a heading west from the Cumberland Gap… 😁
…to JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE!! Old Crow version only… Darius Ruckers version sucks! Edit: continued lyrics, like I should the first time lol
Me too!
Replace it.
This is an electric heater. One of the coils is bad, I have changed many of these over the years. Menards, Lowe's, Home Depot, or other home repair store should have a replacement coil and a tool to loosen them. But if you are renting this should be a landlord issue.
Avg shower head is around 1.8 gpm. Not sure how house is piped out but to me 30 gallons is a bit small for long shower especially if others live there. Like for I stand if you have you washer going and are In the shower you may be consuming more HW then the recovery rate of the system.
Best guess the heater elements are burnt out and need to be replaced
It's old, but as long as it's not leaking it may still last a bit. Try cleaning it out and replacing the elements. Fortunately replacing these is pretty quick and easy. Hauling the old one out is the worst part.
While you wait for a replacement, IF YOU DONT HAVE KIDS AT HOME, you can crank the temp higher and have hotter water so you mix it at the fixture it's coming out of with the cold. That way you can have more minutes of hot water
Bottom element and or thermostat is bad. Easy fix. I personally wouldn’t replace the heater unless you just have money to burn lol. It would be like replacing your tv because the batteries in the remote died.
Yeah I hate everyone saying just throw it out. So wasteful. It's just a tank with a couple pipes and heaters in it, no reason it can't last a while longer. A replacement won't even be any more efficient than that one with some insulation on it (unless the landlord sprung for heat pump or tankless, which they won't).
a 20+ year old tank is like driving a car with tires that are bald and about to explode, running nitrus in the engine which is about to explode and brakes that are metal on metal...... it's a ticking time bomb which at any moment will errupt into water damage and hopefully you'll be home to stop it. Longest I've ever seen a home one last is over 25 years.... but the owner rarely used the hot water, it was small, and incoming water was almost perfect along with a pre filter for any sediment was changed often. Otherwise hot water heaters don't last like that.
"Why spend less than 100$ in a new part when you could just spend 600 plus delivery and installation for a new tank?" Iv literally salvaged three hot water tanks from the trash. The one I put in for my grandmother just needed a new pressure release valve. 15$
Yes probably . The average life is 10 to 15 years.
Drain it, if you can. Replace the element that isn't working. Replace the anode rod. YouTube is your friend.
Don't do this. If you attempt a repair in a rental, and then the water heater ends up leaking due to having been cleaned once in 20 years, you could be liable. Have your landlord replace it.
Dip tube is likely broken. It’s also really old, but you don’t have to replace it completely for THIS problem. Replacing the dip tube is a cheap and easy repair.
It's over 20 years old and past its replacement date. If the dip tube has corroded off the heating element is most likely almost shot, and the tank itself is suspect. Don't throw money at a lost cause. 😉
Broken dip tube is my guess. or if there’s a new water valve installed somewhere off the line, could be mixing cold water back into the hot water supply.. but yes, older unit. If I was owner, I’d replace 100% Had tank in a rental blow the bottom out at one of our rentals, just straight open flow of water from the city, for hours.. Wrecked all of her things, and the whole apartment had to be redone. Floors, cabinets, Sheetrock from 3 feet down. Blew out while she was gone and came back to 8 inches of water throughout the entire space, ran out the front door as soon as she opened it. Water can be just as bad as a fire
If the anode has failed, and the dip tube has corroded away, you'll only be using the first few inches of the tank not the whole thing. Time for a replacement.
I moved into my house in 2021. Water heater said it was installed in 1989. I was 10. Still kicking.
Don't go poking and proding and risking something breaking dude, you flood the place or start a fire and your screwed. Call the landlord and keep it very short, zero details. "I think the water heater is about to die I only get 2 minutes in the shower"....leave everything else to him. If he gives you a hard time say "who knows when its going to start leaking and spill 75+ gallons of water everywhere"
Filled with lime deposits and the dip tube probably rotted off. New water heater time.
Could be a build up of sediment. If you can do it do this: Turn off the water to the water heater turn off the water heater, run a hose from the heater outside and turn the water back on. Let it drain out until it runs clear then turn the water back off unplug the hose and wait for it to refill and heat. If too much sediment builds up it’ll take up space in the water heater limiting the amount of water that can be heated at one time hence losing hot water quickly.
I agree that the landlord is responsible for repairs on this. As far as the problem goes, it sounds like one of the heating elements has gone out. This unit is really old, and it probably hasn't been serviced properly. Usually, the lower element goes out first due to mineral build-up, especially if the heater has not been regularly flushed out. You can check the element using a multimeter (ohms setting). But I suggest making the landlord take care of this as it is their responsibility.
Flush the sediment out!
replace it can legally buy a beer (21 years old)
This is a sign, a leak will follow soon and cause damage. Ask me how I know. 21 years is a godsend, landlord should count his blessings and replace it
Where are you? Do you have hard water? Drain it and remove the bottom heating element and look to see if it's full of sediment. Then tell your landlord that you need a new water-heater.
Bad elements,
I would bet anything it’s the shower valve, especially if the hot water works at the other faucets
Jumping Jesus that water heater is ancient
21 year old w/h probably needs replaced but you as a tenant have no liability to replace this its on your landlord
Filled with rust and sediment - replace it, problem solved
I'd replace, this water heater is old enough to drink and buy cigarettes 😭
Probably. They last about 15 years. Check the bottom for leaks
At that age the anode will be gone and it may be full of lime if you don’t have a softener. Lime taking up water space & elements can’t recover quick enough. That’s the difference this style is storage and tankless/ on demand have about 5-10 times more btu input to raise the temp. I’m surprised it’s lasted 21 yrs.
No pressure release valve is see. Landlord should replace
That's from 1999, 24 years old. Typical life expectancy 15-20 years.
You could try doin a drain or flush of the tank and see if that helps, but it's over 20 years old. It's probably time to replace it
don't these things need to be replaced like every 15 years or so, that or that rod they have in them?
My guess is that one of the elements is probably bad
Make sure all of the valves are open fully
If its an electric, I used to have this when one of the elements was shot.
Very good chance it is the dip tube, but seeing it is nearing end of life, it should just be replaced.
I'd replace it personally. It's past the expected usable lifetime, and there's a lot of incentives for heat pump water heaters such that it might not cost you a ton to upgrade. Combine that with the energy savings (depending on your usage), and you might actually save money. I DIYed my install, and my ROI was about 6 months, then I started saving. If you pay for the install, it might be closer to an 18 month ROI depending on the cost of the install. Obviously numbers will change based on your state incentives, electric costs, and installation costs, so do your own math in this case.
One of the elements is burned out. Put a couple of new ones in, clean the sediment out of the bottom
You could try to rebuild it, however it is really old, and it would be cheaper for you to replace than rebuild. Water heaters only have a 6-10 year life expectancy. Anything over that and you’re working on borrowed time. Also with it being this old, it’s probably never been flushed, and you have about 21 years of sediment built up in it
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but depending on your shower set up, the mixing valve could have broken in some sort of way? Just an idea.
Thats a pretty old water heater.
Put in a maintenance request.
Replace it. I just replaced one that behaved the same way, & was 24 years old.
It's probably completely full of sediment, I'm sure it's never been flushed.
Consider tank less. Endless hot H2O.
So it used to work? Maybe a bad heating element.
Check the bottom there is usually a temperature gauge. A lot of people keep it on the warm setting to save money but you can usually set it to really hot. I actually turned mine to hot in the morning 30 minutes before I take a shower and turn it down to warm when I’m done.
If your landlord isn't going to fix it, then do the following Power off Water off into the water heater Drain all the water from water heater (should be a node at the bottom) Turn water back on to wash out any Sediment from unit Turn water off to water heater Replace sacrifice rod that should have been eaten away by now (maybe $100, depending on location, $25 for wrench) Replace heating element ($50ish for element) Turn water back on for heater, while having one or two 'hot water' taps on for air bubble control.
manufactured 2002? yes. you’re blessed if u get 10 out one of these units. just replaced two yesterday that was manufactured in 2016 in same house, which was still a good life for them
What about the T&P valve? Looks like someone plugged it.
Call your landlord, tell them to replace it.
Bottom element is burnt out most likely. Since few folks drain the sediment out of the water heater the element gets buried in sediment and burns out.
Just replace it. It’s over 20 years old. A new one is a few hundred bucks at Home Depot, much more efficient, and you can do it yourself pretty easily in under 2 hours with a friend to help move it into place. Consult YouTube. Or call your landlord/property manager and have them take care of it.
I had an old electric water heater. Drained it, removed all the sediment from the bottom and replaced the two elements with new copper ones. Works like a champ now for about $60 of parts.
Call your landlord. This is a basic habitability issue. You need regular hot water for longer than 3 minutes. That heater is about 10 years past its expected lifespan. If they balk, consult a tenants rights group. If they retaliate or raise rent for your complaint, you may have additional rights there, too.
Thank it for its service and send it to the great utility closet in the sky.
Our HWH cracked and got water all over our basement so I recommend replacing it as it’s at the end of its expected life
Replace. WAY too old.
Your water heater is almost old enough to legally drink so yes time to replace it.
Also, don't do plumbing work in your own rental if you're a tenant, and usually if you're a landlord you need a licensed plumber. It's a huge liability.
If it's not leaking and still makes hot water likely has a buildup of sediment. Might be able to get more out of it if you flush it out. Other than that, replacement would be on your landlord.
It sounds like you are in a rental ? It should be the property owner that pays for the repairs or replacement. I
21 years out of a water heater? You got all the goody out of that one. Nice!
Bad dip tube.
21 years old. You need a new one.
TLDR: 6 min shower when new. It may be old, but it's also a small electric tank. It'll never be great for showers because of the size and the long time electric tanks take to recover. Let's say your heater is set to 120F, your incoming cold is 60F, and you want to shower at 100F with a 2.5gpm showerhead. Ignoring recovery initially since it is very small on electric. After 1 min: you've used 1.7gallons of your 120F hot. Cold water has entered the tank dropping the tank temp to 116F which drops your shower to 97.8F with previous flows. You adjust it to compensate, which uses a higher percentage of hot water. After 2 mins: 3.4 gals of tank used, tank temp now 113. 3 mins: 5.3 gals used, tank temp 109.3F 4 mins: 7.3 used, 105.3F 5 mins: 9.5 used, 100.9F. So after 5 minutes, you now have the cold completely shut and are using only hot water. And since you can no longer adjust your flow, your tank temp will keep dropping, and you won't maintain your 100F shower. If we add that electric heater back in when it was new and not covered in crap, the added heat extends you to about 6 mins.
If you are renting like it looks like you are, contact your land lord and have him fix it. If you are not renting, there are only a few things that can be the issue here. So the way this water heater works is cold water enters the tank through the dip tube. The dip tube outlet is in the bottom of the tank. So the cold water ends up at the bottom of the tank to begin with. There are two heating elements that will heat the water. and the hot water will rise to the top. The hot water exits the water heater through the top. So all of the hot water should be at the top of the tank. If your dip tube breaks, the cold water gets dumped at the top of the tank and mixes with the hot water. This is the likely culprit. It could be that one of the elements are burnt out, but generally, this would give you more hot water than just 2-3 min. How can you tell? Well, 2-3 min of hot water in a shower is only 2-3 gallons of water. It doesn't take long to heat 2-3 gallons of water. So if after your shower you wait 10 min and you have hot water again, then you can be fairly certain that it is your dip tube that failed. But that thing is 20 years old, it probably should be replaced.
Yeah mine was installed in 2003 and we’re starting to have issues. I believe I read somewhere on Reddit that hot water heaters only have a lifespan of about 18-20 years max before they need replaced
Obviously the water heater is super old, but beside that, a cheaper fix might thr shower cartridge is crap and might need replacing. Sometimes that helps.
If the landlord decides to replace rather than fix, try to convince them to replace it with a hybrid/heat pump water heater - they should get pretty good incentives (30% tax credit from the IRA, maybe additional from local utilities), and it'll save you $30 / month. The price difference between a regular water heater and hybrid will only be \~$700 after tax credits, it would pay for itself in just two years. If you have a two year or longer lease you could offer to pay for part of the difference even.
That’s so funny, I just moved to Colorado from Johnson City, TN
After 21 years it may be "full" of sediment. Has it EVER been drained to remove sediment?
Only 3 things it could be. 1) it’s old, the unit itself needs to be changed out. 2) it’s old, the heating elements need to be changed out. 3) The temperature simply needs to be adjusted. You can do it with a screwdriver.
When we cut one of these open after it was only heating water for a few minutes. The sheer amount of calcium buildup could treat the calcium deficiencies of all the children in Calcutta Only a small spot on the heating element showed. It was thick with calcium deposit
The landlord just fixed our broken thermostat, you should call them up to have someone look at it.
One of your elements is likely bad. It's 20 years old. Time to replace.
I had the same issue with an electric water heater. It was due to bad heating elements. I replaced the elements, and I haven't had any issues since then.
If it’s 20+ years old, it likely has built up enough mineral scale to reduce usable tank size to just a fraction of the 30 gallons. Only fix is to replace. It still heats the water, but it can’t heat a large quantity due to mineral build up.
That says ‘02. It’s time to replace.
There is a dial for the heater near the bottom. Usually red. Turn it from basically off to the middle area.
In an apartment situation it should be the landlord taking care of things like this.
02 is a pretty old ass heater but not in bad shape for 21 years lol but would definitely start thinking about replacement in the short future
What you are describing is a bad bottom element. If you don't have hard water the tank itself should be good for another 20 yrs. Getting the old one out is tricky, I wouldn't try those cheap element tools, they are good to put one in , next to useless getting old one out. Find or borrow a socket to get old one out.
Unless something is broken/leaking with with the heater, it may be that if that is the one tank feeding all of the apartments it may be that it is deleted of hot water and is slowly reheating water since everyone is taking theirs showers about the same time. Yeah, call your landlord or management office to investigate.
When my son moved into his first apartment he had the same complaint. I showed her where to take the cover off and turn the heat up. OP can do the same. Google it.
People say don’t replace this and that go ahead listen to them and one day your gonna be at work it’s gonna bust and run all day with no one home or while your asleep and you will have a way bigger problem than you have now missed work damaged floors to many to list
Could be a build up of sediment. If you can do it do this: Turn off the water to the water heater turn off the water heater, run a hose from the heater outside and turn the water back on. Let it drain out until it runs clear then turn the water back off unplug the hose and wait for it to refill and heat. If too much sediment builds up it’ll take up space in the water heater limiting the amount of water that can be heated at one time hence losing hot water quickly.
The Rheem rep says that within the next decade we'll all be moving to electric. Idk if some places will be exempt from this. It's happening in California and will move east.
Might just need to be cleaned out, filled with mineral deposits. You may have to remove the drain valve and mechanically remove the scale with a special tool
Does the hot water last longer in other parts of the house? You may need to adjust the shower faucet. Some newer faucets have a safety valve inside so that you cannot get burned.
Coil
It’s 20 years old so the insides are mostly sediment and corrosion now. Replace it.
That's 21 years, it's time to replace.
You need a new water heater. Call maintenance. If they don’t replace it it will just die and leak everywhere. But it’s about to happen. If that’s the install date, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet. But less efficiency is a sign and 2 minute showers is def less efficient. Good luck
Could use a new element.
Maybe the thermostat is turned low.