Went to shower this morning and there is no flow of hot water. A little warm but when I go all hot with rotary knob, just a little water comes out. Bathroom sink has hot water. Laundry room has reduced flow too. Upstairs bathroom has same issue. I’m assuming a partial blockage coming out of heater? Water heater is still working and I can see flame. What should I be looking for?
Just checked kitchen sink and full flow water while heating up and then slowed to a trickle. So it seems there is a blockage somewhere?
Tristan probably nailed it, bad faucet. Is your house equipped with PEX, or the old fashioned copper or plastic supply lines? Does one line feed your bathroom, then branched out from there, or does it have individual lines from a manifold (home runs)? Crawl space, slab floors?
Far too many clever quips to be made RE: where you reside… But I’d suspect scale chunk dislodged in the tank and is restricting outflow
Get that fixed or your new nickname will be "Stinky" Probably better kill the power and the flame on the water heater. If it is leaking the flame can get overheated with lack of water.
I’ve never flushed it but have determined it is a blockage at the heater. I turned off the water disconnected the hot water pipe, hooked up a hose to that pipe and turned it on and not much is coming out. So I’m over at Lowes now. May pay someone to do it, not sure yet
Flushing requirements (frequency) are strongly influenced by native water chemistry. Everyone should always try to live where there is soft water. Makes brewing easier and you only flush your water tank every few years.
Water tank flushing depends on water quality as indicated above toss a tank out every 10-15 years or go tankless and flush it a lot depending on the quality of your water. I have a mental disorder related to fixing too many easily preventable water damaged basements in my previous career. I swap a tank every ten years.
In Tennessee the water is hard AF, probably need to do it once a year but no one does. Hence when replaced after 8-10 years the capacity is probably down ~50% due to sediments. I replaced one that was 12+ years old that weighed half a ton after draining. So full of sediment we ended up having replacing the washer because of the sediment that got sent downstream. I told myself Id drain every year after the new water cooker and washing machine, but have not yet actually done it. Its on the list tho....
I'm on a well with hard water. Mine was making warm water last year instead of hot. The bottom element was bad. Drained and went to replace it and there was so much build up it shorted the element. had to empty the years worth of build up and the put it back together. Its fine now. You should drain and flush every couple years, or sooner to get the scale out. If you have a gas heater that scale on the bottom will act as insulation and cause the heater to use more gas for the same water temp.
In case it isn't hot enough coming out of the first water heater. I added an on demand water heater for the shower after the water heater for the rest of the house since my wife wants her shower to be hot enough to scald the bristles off a pig. There was no reason to make the rest of the hot water that hot, so the ondemand heater was in fact a hot water heater.
Turn water temp to highest setting the night before you need to clean something like outdoor furniture or an engine bay on a vehicle that can benefit from piping hot water rinse. Run a garden hose right off the botom of the heater to where you are working. Double bonus....you're flushing it and you get some clean gear. Works great for getting stuff clean like grills, lawnmowers, etc.