Hot Water Quickly Going Cold?
We recently moved into the top two floors of a brownstone building and have a problem with the hot water turning cold rather quickly. Turning on the hot tap (bath or sink on either floor) results in a steady stream of hot water for up to a minute, but then it turns warm pretty quickly….
We recently moved into the top two floors of a brownstone building and have a problem with the hot water turning cold rather quickly. Turning on the hot tap (bath or sink on either floor) results in a steady stream of hot water for up to a minute, but then it turns warm pretty quickly. The kitchen has the same problem, but it doesn’t go cold quite as fast. The problem is worse on the top floor.
We had a plumber take a look and he thinks the problem may stem from cross flow coming from the washer/dryer?
Also, he tested the h/w heater which is in the basement, by feeling the pipe whilst having us run the hot water from upstairs. When the latter went cold, the h/w heater pipes were still hot. So, he thinks the h/w heater is not the problem. One last thing, when the hot water runs cold, if we turn the tap/fosset down to a slow stream, the hot water remains pretty hot.
Sorry for rambling, but just wondered if anybody else out there had any ideas as to what might be causing this?
Thanks!
MP, if it still isn’t working after the weekend, I’ll give you a shout. Thanks.
Thanks MP. We’ll look into that. The plumber did suggest rebuilding all of the faucets (sink and shower in both bathrooms), but we have the same problem with the tap in the kitchen sink so I wasn’t sure whether it was a problem with the faussets or something else causing the problem
MP, even with the same behavior in the kitchen sink, does that fall into line with the check valve thing you mention?
Cheers for your feedback.
After the water turns cold, have you left it running to see if it gets hot again (i.e. maybe it’s a pocket of cold water that will flow past & allow the hot to come up from the boiler.)
Hannible’s suggestions will not help you. Insulating the cold water pipes will only keep them cold as they pass through your warm boiler room.
Anyway, your problem is in the piping system, not in your water heater.
I get called for this all the time. Check your single lever tub and shower faucets for check valves and you’ll find your problem.
Me:
http://www.GatewayPlumbing.com
Thanks. Am I correct in thinking that the h/w heater is solely responsible for washer/dryer, sink & bath, and the boiler for the apartment heating?
No but you could try keeping the cold water pipes going into your boiler as warm as possible. Try foam insulation around the cold water pipes. You can also put the water heater up a few degrees and then lower it again when the temoerature of the weather outside starts to heat up.
Hi Hannible,
Thanks for the reply. We have a separate h/w heater and boiler. Guessing that won’t work with our setup?
Do you you have a separate hot water heater or a boiler combo? If you have one boiler combo try closing the mixing valve a little to compinsate for the flow of much colder water coming from the freezing city pipes.