Not Getting Enough Hot Water?

OliveOyl
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February 16, 20090 found this helpful

There are many variables--is the temp turned high enough on you water heaters? Do you flush them out to get rid of sediment? Are they in a cold area, are pipes insulated, how far do the pipes run to shower, kitchen, laundry, how many people are in your household using the water? Don't know what you mean by a bypass. I have a 50 gal tank for 2 people and we never run out of hot water.

The other post is good. Other than those suggestions, I'd have to ask myself why I was using so much hot water. See if you can reduce the amount of hot water used. Best of luck always!

Perhaps one or more of the heating elements is not working or perhaps the gas burners need cleaned. Another thing to consider is wrapping the pipes with appropriate insulation as well as the water heater itself.

Also there is a device called an insinkerator which you put under your sink that keeps a few gallons of water hot for immediate use. I'm told it costs about $200.

If you use this device and fix any other issues such as the ones mentioned previously, perhaps you can save on gas/electric by turning down the temperature on the main water heaters. Don't forget to put timers on water heaters.

If you use a dishwasher, make sure the temperature is set so that it sanitizes your dishes.

2 50 gallon heaters - and running outta hot water! YIKES. We have a 30 gallon for 5 people and don't run out of water unless 2 people take 2 separate extremely large baths...at the same time!

We had that problem, and my brother in law (a plumber) told my husband it could be the dip tube in the hot water heater. My husband did some Internet searching for dip tube problems and found the information he needed to check it, remove it, and replace it. What happened is that the dip tube was disintegrating. Apparently water heaters manufactured in the early to late nineties time frame had the defective dip tubes. Once replaced it worked fine. Beats replacing the hot water heater. The only thing is periodically; the little pieces of plastic that broke apart accumulate at the faucet and need to be cleaned out. Not a difficult task though