How long should hot water last in the shower? Are you continuously running out? We can help take you through the steps to find out why.
On Average hot water should last about 20 minutes with a 40 gallon tank and 30 minutes with a 60 gallon tank. This is assuming that you run completely hot and don’t mix it with cold. A hot water tank can produce about 2 gallons per minute.
The type of tank also has to do with recovery time so read on…
1.How long should hot water last in the shower with an energy saving shower head?
Typically with a 40 gallon hot water tank your hot water should last about 20 minutes.
This would be assuming that the hotline was 100% over on the hot side.
If you mix the hot water then you can get up to 45 minutes of shower time on a 40 gallon tank.
If you go with the 60 gallon tank then you can get up to over an hour. Or 30 minutes of fully hot water.
This is assuming that you are using a regular showerhead. If you are to use a energy saver showerhead then the hot water usage should be considerably longer.
You can add 30% of these times as a safe rule of thumb. However all water showerheads differ in efficiencies.
2.Why does my hot water run out so fast?
Your hot water could be running out because of over usage.
Having an inefficient showerhead.
Or just simply too long of shower times. Additionally you could have issues with your hot water tank causing you to run out of hot water quicker.
If you have a thermostat issue with your hot water tank can significantly reduce the amount of time you’ll get over your hot water.
You can also have power problems if you have an electric hot water tank which will also reduce the amount of hot time that you get out of the hot water tank.
3.How can I reduce water usage
You could reduce your hot water usage by taking shorter showers.
Installing an energy saver showerhead. Turning the temperature back from 140° to 130° on your tank.
Wash laundry and dishes and cool water
Brush teeth and wash face in cold water.
In addition you can also add a hot water tank blanket to increase standby time to hold the hot water efficiency.
4.How long does it take for hot water to come back
From a cold tank it can take up to three hours to heat the hot water.
This is assuming that you have a 240 V tank.
Once the water runs cool it usually takes about an hour to heat back up.
Again this is a standard domestic hot water tank usually 40 gallon.
If you go with an instantaneous hot water tank then it is just that. It is instantaneous and you should not run out of hot water.
5.How To Never Run Out Of Hot Water
You can do two things to never run out of hot water.
First you can install two tanks in series. Meaning the hot water from the first tank would run into the cold water line of the second tank.
It super heats the water as it passes through and doubles your capacity.
We recommend this to our customers that are on off-peak or time or use energy savings from the power company as they can store the hot water at night into these two tanks.
If you go with larger tanks say 60 gallon that gives you 120 gallons of hot water. This would give you an hour of your hot water or up to two hours of mixed water.
6.What Is A Tankless Water Heater?
In addition to this method you can also get an instantaneous hot water heater.
An instantaneous hot water heater has a very large electrical element inside.
As the cold water passes through it instantaneously super heats the water to come out hot.
We also called us on demand hot water.
Is it only works when you request the hot water. As far as efficiency goes when it comes to your electric bill this is no cheaper.
The reason for this is because the tank or the instantaneous hot water requires a much larger electrical feed which consumes a large amount of power.
These instantaneous hot water makers are not suitable for everyone’s home.
You need to be very careful when you were purchasing these to make sure that you have enough electrical output from your power service to supply the energy needed for the hot water.
The good news is if you do not have enough power to supply one large tank then you can also install smaller tanks.
Instantaneous hot water units under the areas where you need hot water.
An example of this would be under the kitchen sink.
Also under a bathroom sink or laundry tub.
They make these units very small to be honest small enough to plug-in. You can see moron instantaneous hot water machines here.
7.Can I turn up the temperature to make it last longer?
A standard electric hot water tank is set for 140°F.
You can turn them up as high as 150 or 160°F.
Yes naturally this will make your hot water last longer when you’re mixing because there is a higher temperature rate coming out of the hotline.
If you were going to decide to do this we recommend that you be very careful because you can quickly scold yourself which can be a danger.
We don’t recommend this if you have children in the house because they will not know better.
This also applies if you turn the tank down.
Most people will turn the tank down to 120°F. This will reduce your energy production and save you money on your power bill, however you will have less hot water naturally because the water is cooler.
When you mix it, it will need to be at a higher setpoint on the top in order to get the same amount of desired hot water temperature in the shower.
This will cause it to run out quicker because you were taking more from the tank.
8.Are tankless hot water heaters better?
We do believe that tankless water heaters are better yes.
They are better for a number of reasons.
You have no physical tank for the water to sit in and rust the tank out overtime.
You’re only calling for power or ignition source when you’re asking for hot water.
So there are number of any advantages to these.
Like I mentioned above the disadvantage to these is you need to make sure you have enough power coming into the house.
Some of these tankless water heaters can consume up to 120 A of electricity.
To put that into layman‘s terms some electrical power panels are only 100 A most newer homes are 200 A.
If you consume 120 A for just your hot water and only these 80 A for your rest of your house.
If you start your stove and your dryer then your main power will trip.
This is why we believe if you were going to do large tankless heaters you should go with a different fire source like oil or propane.
If you choose to do electric and we recommend going with smaller tankless hot water heaters under each individual area as mentioned above.
The recovery time on these tankless hot water heaters is virtually none.
They basically produce hot water when you call for it.
9.Does the tank produce less hot water when it gets older?
Yes your electric hot water tank will still produce hot water when it gets older.
However keep in mind that things to wear out overtime.
As the electrical part it becomes worn out it’ll most likely break and stop working altogether.
Combine with sediment building up inside the tank it could also restrict flow for the hot water coming out of the hot water return line.
If it restricts flow then you will need do use or turn the showerhead more towards a hard to get the same amount of hot water out of the tub.
Corrosion is a killer on the inside of these tanks especially if you have water quality issues.
Water quality issues are very important when it comes to keeping the lifespan of this equipment operating at its best.
10.So What Can I Do?
Well when it comes to how long should hot water last in the shower a number of factors com into play as you can see.
If you were unsure about some products that you could potentially look at for installing in your home then please check out here are recommended products page.
It is a collection of some of the products that we have used or tried over the years and personally recommend.
When you get to the recommended product page just check out heating products and it should take you to several different links.