Why Your Water Takes too Long to Heat

The moment you wake up, you head towards the bathroom. And when you open the faucet to brush your teeth or clean your face but the water coming from the tap was too damn cold you freeze. What if your morning shower is as cold as ice, what would you do? At that time, we could not imagine your frustration.

Flowing cold water through the pipes when you expect it to be hot or at least warm causes much inconvenience to your daily life. Waiting for that water to heat up will waste your time, resource, and patience. And what’s worse, you can’t just fix it at that moment even if you wanted to.

Failing water pipes: there’s a reason for every problem

In regions where the cold climate is consistent, boilers or water heaters are invaluable members of your piping system at home. When they fail, hot water will take longer to reach your shower, taps, and other piping fixtures. For an instance that you open the shower and faucet and let the water run believing that somewhere near the tank or boiler system it is still heating up, you waste a lot of water in the run, hence, you spend money on useless bills; just like the wasted water, it goes down the drain.

With the hustle and bustle of life, people love to keep going, and they like to keep their old boiler running as long as hot water is readily available. While it is not the most efficient way to treat your old boiler, somehow along the way, it will encounter a variety of problems.

When hot water can’t reach your tap, the following could be the reasons:

1. Age of your boiler—One factor that your water is not heating because the boiler is too old too function. For 24 hours in a day, serving more than ten years of your stay in your current home, it is expected that hardworking equipment like this will run down eventually. Have a plumbing expert evaluate your heater. Perhaps, you forget to have the boiler maintained periodically. Or, maybe it’s time for a replacement.
2. Size of your home—Having a big house would mean having an intricate piping system. Some houses where boilers are installed far from taps and showers are going to give you hot water not as fast as you expected. Distance is the key to getting sufficient hot water.
3. Low-volume restrictor—Using a flow-limiting valve allows you to run hot water longer by slowing the passage of water through the heater. This is done for those who do not want to run out of hot water. However, while the flow of water passing the heater is restricted, giving a higher temperature of hot water, the delivery of water right into your shower or taps could be delayed.
4. Buildup of mineral or sediment in the tank—If your boiler has a storage tank, accumulation of deposits such as magnesium and calcium particles settle to the bottom, especially when the boiler is aged. These sediments will cause a delay in your hot water or will diminish the supply that reaches the plumbing fixtures. When the sediment blocked the drain valve or water line, the tank will eventually fail. Have your hired plumber flush the water tank periodically to prevent future appliance’s inability to function efficiently.

What can you do to get hot water fast?

In bigger houses and any commercial building, you need to install a hot water recirculation system. This allows the quick movement of hot water to reach your furthest tap in the house. A recirculation line is a separate piping line that pops out from the main line and runs back to the water heater. Back at the tank is a pump that releases hot water to the recirculation line and pushes cold water back to the tank.

The hot water recirculating system saves you time in waiting for the hot water and water wasted in the drain. And it saves you money on electric and water bills.

Another smart solution to keep your water warm is by installing tankless boilers. Instead of storing water and waiting for the hot water to reach your taps, tankless boilers supply you hot water when it is only needed. The water is heated when it travels the pipe and give you a constant supply of hot water.

Get hot water faster through us!

Plumbers Portsmouth has been delivering plumbing solutions for all types of problem, one of which is boiler repair or installation. If you are not the handyman type, replacing or repairing your boiler is not your expertise. Our company has been servicing residents of Portsmouth for many years, including commercial customers, and provide prompt delivery service in your place.

If it’s time to replace your boiler, ask us. Or if you feel regular maintenance will fix the problem, we’ll fix it for you. Increase the performance of your boiler by calling us now, and one of our service people will be more than happy to assist you.