Not Enough Hot water in the shower from a 40 Gallon Electric Hot Water Heater.

rcake · 06-07-2011, 04:37 PM

I just purchased a new 40 Gallon Whirlpool Electric Hot Water Heater from Lowes, because the Old Whirlpool 40 Gallon Heater was not producing enough Hot water. Now the same thing is occurring with the new heater.

The house has 1 bathroom with two Adults taking showers in the morning, each adult takes about a 5 min shower using a standard shower head 2 1/2 gallon per min. The hot water ends in about 7 min. I have checked to make sure the cold water in, and hot water out pipes are correctly connected to the heater and the temp is set at 110 degrees. I also had an electrician check the voltage...still no luck. Any ideas and/or troubleshooting suggestions would be so very appreciated!

Very strange that mu plumber and electrician cant give me an answer about what could be cuasing this issue...the same issue was occuring with the old heater ...thanks!

Daniel Holzman · 06-07-2011, 04:48 PM

I would start by verifying that the shower head is in fact putting out 2.5 gpm. You can do this with a five gallon bucket, just time how long it takes to fill up. If the shower head is in fact putting out 5 gpm, that would account for lack of hot water in 7 minutes.

bob22 · 06-07-2011, 07:38 PM

The recovery rate is likely the same for both the old and new heaters. Why did you go with a 40 gal when the old 40 gal didn't perform? You could have upped it to at least a 50 gal (not much difference likely in the real world however IMO). Daniel gave good advice (as usual).

**oh'mike** · 06-07-2011, 08:38 PM

Verify that the cold and hot pipes are on the correct connections at the heater.

Laugh if you want---I've seen it---Two new 50 gallon heaters set on HIGH---

I asked why--(husband/wife/toddler)--We always run out of hot water!---Sure enough --crossed pipes.

josall · 06-07-2011, 09:52 PM

Turn your temp up to 120* that's a safe temp. Are both elements working?

Alix · 06-07-2011, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by josall

Turn your temp up to 120* that's a safe temp.

That's what I was thinking. I'm not an expert, but as someone who likes very hot showers, I know two people can go through a 50 gallon tank pretty quickly even when it's set at 120. I've turned the water heater in my house up even higher--maybe 135--so that two people can take 10 min. showers in a row. (And there's no one here that would be extra vulnerable to scalds--if you have kids or elderly folks in the house, keep it set lower).

Mrdippy · 06-08-2011, 09:04 PM

I had an odd situation of gas pressure (slightly low) letting the water heater work fine for the most part but the recovery was horrendous. I experienced it with a brand new 50gal tank. So the first shower in the morning was fine, but second went cold super quick - it was a WTF moment.

LOL. - I just realized you said it was electric!

secutanudu · 06-09-2011, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotwaterhelp

Sorry to see you're having problems! Can you contact me directly so I can help?

Thanks ~ Chris

This isn't how forums work...

Leah Frances · 06-09-2011, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alix

That's what I was thinking. I'm not an expert, but as someone who likes very hot showers, I know two people can go through a 50 gallon tank pretty quickly even when it's set at 120. I've turned the water heater in my house up even higher--maybe 135--so that two people can take 10 min. showers in a row. (And there's no one here that would be extra vulnerable to scalds--if you have kids or elderly folks in the house, keep it set lower).

We lost our HWH the first year we owned our house. Ultimately, after debating all kinds of installations we installed the same sort of oil fired HWH.

I can run the dishwasher and take a 20 minute hot shower and never really 'run out' of hot water.

But, if someone flushes a toilet while you're in the shower..... YE-OWCH! Can't wait for new plumbing!

CNM Design · 06-10-2011, 12:51 PM

Though this is very unsafe, and cost a little more, we keep our hot water heater all most max out temperature wise. When we all take showers, I figure it’s 25% hot and 75% cold. We get at least four 15 to 20 min showers out of one tank. If it does run out it’s just warm never goes to cold.

Durt Ferguson · 06-10-2011, 01:20 PM

I'm not familiar with the Whirlpool heaters, however I did install a Kenmore electric HWH a few months back. We have never had any problems. Does yours have alternate operating modes for the elements? On mine, if you have heavier wiring (30 amp I believe) you can install a bus bar to convert the element to a higher output. Do you have one or two elements? Are they both set to 110? That may be a little low, depending on how hot your showers are. Also, you don't have a timer/programmable model do you? Or one that has the third wire for peak/off peak wiring?