Hey everyone! I've got a bit of a conundrum with my 2-year-old water heater. The other day, it just stopped giving me hot water and was more lukewarm than anything else. So, I cut the power and had a plumber friend come look at it. After flipping the breaker back on, it worked fine for about 24 hours but then went cold again. I could turn it back on temporarily just by flipping the breaker off and on. My question is, do you think this is more of a breaker issue or something wrong with the water heater itself? Everything else in the house is working fine, so I'm a little puzzled. It's the weekend, so I didn't want to bother my plumber friend too much, figured I'd ask you all!
2 Answers
Sounds like your thermostat might be the culprit! There are usually two thermostats in water heaters, one at the top and one at the bottom. If one of them is failing, it can cause the heater to shut off unexpectedly. It’s generally an easy and inexpensive fix if you’re handy with tools! Would definitely check that out first.
Just out of curiosity, is it a tankless heater? Sometimes they shut off if there's not enough demand for hot water.
Nope, it’s a tank model. Here’s what I have: [A. O. Smith Water Heater](https://www.aosmithatlowes.com/products/water-heaters/electric-water-heaters/e6-50r45dv/). So it’s definitely not tankless.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll check the thermostats first. I was just worried it might be more complicated than that.