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Q. The pipe leading from my hot water heater is warm and we are getting some hot water at times. Two days ago we could get only luke warm water for our showers. Today we got hot water. But when I drain some water from the bottom of the tank, it is cold. There are two panels on the heater with thermostats. Both are set for 120 degrees. The top panel has a reset button that I have pushed but did not seem to make a difference. Any suggestions?
A. You have a dual element electric water heater and it’s probably a 50 gallon capacity tank. That’s the most common water heater heating element and size configuration out there.
It sounds to me like the bottom element has gone bad and isn’t heating any water while the upper element is still working. When you use hot water it’s leaving the water heater from the top and the cold water entering the water heater tank to replace what ’s being used is delivered to a space near the bottom of the tank by a pipe called the dip tube. The function of the dip tube is to deliver cold water away from the hot water at the top of the tank and the lower element starts heating it up.
When the water heater isn’t being drained of water for a bath, shower or load of laundry the whole tank will heat to the set temperature by both elements-- in your case to 120ºF. With the lower element not producing any heat the hot water will stratify near the top and the water at the lower area of the tank will remain cool. The water heater has to bring the entering water temperature up some 65ºF to get it to 120ºF and for that most electric water heaters use two heating elements rated at 4500 watts .
My advice as to what to do about this situation has a lot to do with the age of the water heater and how handy you are. You can normally find the age of the water heater on the information decal on the side of the tank. My Rheem water heater’s tag is up near the top of the tank so I don’t have get on my hands and knees to read it like some water heaters I’ve run into. Look for the serial number and read the first four digits. The first two digits are the week of manufacture and the second two digits are the year. My Rheem reads 0995 and that translates to the first week of March of 1995-- almost thirteen years old. I’m lucky-- no failed elements yet.
If your water heater is over age ten and you have to call a plumber to repair this heater then I’d strongly suggest you consider replacing the whole tank with a new one for a number of reasons. The first is plumbers aren’t cheap. If a plumber comes out and replaces the elements-- yes, if one goes bad replace them both just to be on the safe side-- then you still have a ten or more year old water heater. Water heaters are normally listed as having lifespans between seven to twelve years. Most carry five year warranties when new. I’ve seen some go out sooner and surely seen many last and last but seven to twelve is the average. So repairing an older heater may not make economic sense.
If you try to change the elements yourself, shut the power to the heater off before you drain the water out. You probably will not own a socket wrench large enough for the nut you have to loosen to remove the element so you’ll buy a tool specially design ed for the job.
Another warning about changing water heater elements in an older water heater tank is that the nuts holding the elements may destroy the tank’s threads on the way out. Those nuts haven’t moved since they were installed and may be frozen. Destroy the tank ’s threads and you’re looking at tank replacement. Just one more reason never to attempt plumbing repairs on a weekend when most real plumbers who can bail you out are unavailable until Monday.