What to do When Your Water Heater Breaks

What to do When Your Water Heater Breaks

The water heater is one of the foundation stones of any home: washing soiled clothes in hot, soapy water; running a load of dirty dishes in the dishwasher after a big meal; taking a long warm shower after a stressful day. These are some of life's more mundane moments, and it can be easy to take them for granted. But a broken water heater can easily throw your household into chaos. Calling a plumber in Utah to fix your water heater can fix the problem, but there are things you can look for to make sure this doesn't catch you off guard.

What to do When Your Water Heater Breaks

Signs of a Broken Water Heater

1. Sudden Loss of Hot Water: If you're ten minutes into a refreshing, warm shower and the water suddenly gets icy, this is one of the most common signs of a broken water heater. Most American homes have storage water heaters. A storage unit holds a certain amount of heated water, usually between 20 and 80 gallons at a time. The tank refills automatically, but using too much water at once will drain it, leaving you with cold water. This is why your shower gets cold if you let the water run for an hour or more. But a sudden drop in temperature isn't normal and can be a sign that part of your water heater is broken.
2. Heating elements failing. If it turns out to be the latter, then replacing your water heater is the only solution.

What to Do Once You Call a Plumber

1. Install a Tankless Water Heater: A plumber in Utah can switch out a busted storage water heater and replace it with one without a tank. These kinds of heaters operate by letting the running water pass directly through a heating agent. This means that it only heats the water on-demand, lowering energy costs and eliminating a need to wait for more hot water.
2. Wash With Cold Water: If you stick with a storage water heater, switching to washing clothes in cold water can save on energy costs and reduce the strain on your heater. This will also reduce the amount of time you have to wait to use the hot water for something else, like showering or running the dishwasher.