Hometalk is where people share and help with everything home & garden

Decatur, IN on Mar 08, 2012

end of line water

I have a electric water heater that was installed in 2007. My house is a ranch house and in the master bedroom is a bathroom with a stand up shower. And it is at the end of the line with a kitchen, washer, another bathroom, and a sink in bedroom bath. house is built on a slab. My question is: The water to that back shower is not as hot or takes a while to get hot. What can i do to make that shower warmer? Would a new hot water heater take care of that problem or a "booster" work? Thanks for any information.

4 Comments

Steve G Fort Collins, CO

Is it possible to get to the pipes and insulate them? Foam pipe jackets are inexpensive and effective.

on Mar 08, 2012 · Like 0
Homework Remodels ~ Tri-L... Phoenix, AZ

Electric hot water heaters almost always have two heating elements.. The lower element will almost always go our first . This will greatly reduce the tanks ability to maintain hot water. The longer the run to the shower the more cold water that is diluting the hot water in your tank. If you have a bad heating element your tank will not have fast recovery.
The good news is that the heating element is easily replaced.

on Mar 08, 2012 · Like 0
KMS Woodworks Nederland, CO

You have two issues fighting against you...the long run...+ Electric. By comparison a gas or propane water heater typically can out perform an electric hands down. One issue with long runs is they typically scale down as you get near the end...what may start as 3/4" pipe may step down to 1/2" for the last bit. This reduces the flow and increases the heat losses per surface area. Unfortunately it sounds like access to "insulate" your plumbing lines may be limited.

on Mar 09, 2012 · Like 0
HandyANDY Home Renovation... Marietta, GA

How long is the run? You may want to consider switching to gas...it's typically more expensive but recovers faster. You can also look at installing an inline heater just for back bathroom.

on Mar 09, 2012 · Like 0

Feedback

Oops! Leave without saving?

Hometalk.com

Hometalk is where people share and help with everything home & garden

end of line water

NOTE: You can drag and drop your photos to reorder them