When it comes to the big list of homeowner annoyances, not having continuous hot water in the shower is often right at the top of the list.
Just ask Carson S., a Smyrna homeowner who was having inconsistent water temperatures every time he would take a shower. Often things would start out fine, but then the water would go tepid.
After dealing with the problem of inconsistent water temperatures for several weeks, Carson knew it was time to call in a plumbing professional to find out what the problem was. After doing some Internet research, he decided to contact Trinity Plumbing.
“Why Am I Running Out of Hot Water in My Shower?”
There are all kinds of reasons that the hot water supply in a house may not be lasting as long as it should. In many instances, the water heater turns out to be the culprit because the heating element is going out or there is a sediment build-up inside the water heater that is displacing the amount of water that can come into the tank.
In this case, however, as it turned out, it actually wasn’t the water heater. It also wasn’t the water pressure itself. Both had checked out fine.
After ruling out the obvious, we then began looking at the less obvious. This included the water fixture itself, which upon inspection initially – seemed to be operating exactly the way it should.
We then continued testing the shower as well as the other plumbing fixtures in the house until we were finally able to replicate the symptom.
The cause was indeed coming from the shower fixture or more precisely – the shower valve (a pressure balancing type) inside.
We discovered that the internal mechanism that assures the water temperature stays consistent (a scald prevention system) was getting stuck on occasion, but not always.
That is why the problem didn’t present itself during our initial examination. When this did happen though, the pressure differential in the valve would cause more cold water to mix in with the hot water, which in turn, was causing the temperature to drop too suddenly.
Fortunately, we had the replacement cartridge on the van and we were able to replace the faulty part the very same day. The problem was eliminated and the customer was very happy to know his hot water issues were over.
Could This Issue Have Been Prevented?
Yes and no.
This type of thing can be prevented by having a professional plumber do an annual inspection of the home for possible issues. When we do this, we can monitor the pressure and wear of the system, which will sometimes give us an indication of things to come.
If this had been the case, we would have gone ahead and replaced the valve before it could become an issue.
Unfortunately, there is rarely much warning on when a valve will decide to fail. It’s really just one of those things that when it happens, it happens.
Trinity Plumbing – We Fix Hot Water Issues and a Whole Lot More
Whether you’ve got a pressure valve issue like Carson’s or it’s time for a water heater replacement, we’ll always give you an estimate right up front, so you’ll know the cost and there’s never any hidden fees.
