Hi, hope you can help... I can get hot water out of my shower but it takes about 10 minutes after I turn it on to heat up and I hate wasting so much water. Once it gets hot it is fine. The taps throughout the house are the same. What's the problem?

Was it always like this or did this just start?
The first thing I would check is the elements starting with the top one. Before I can continue I need the answer to my first question. Back to you. Tom

It wasn't always like this - started a while ago but seems to be getting worse...

Thanks!

Is your hot water tank gas or electric? If it is electric check Tom's answer, if it is gas, check the dip tube on the cold water side of tank.

Hello Loraorla,

If you water heater is electric I believe Tom nailed it down, it sounds like the upper element is not working, the dip tube is out of question, dip tube broken works the same for gas and electric water heaters, Pleas open the link and see how it work,Thanks.

John

http://www.masterplumber.net/electricwh/dip_tube.htm

I was going to ask how long the run was from the heater to your shower but now I see this was not always a problem. Please try to answer Tom's questions. In the meantime try drawing water form the drain spigit on the side bottom of the heater, use a thermometer to measure the temp, what is it? This could be a simple fix like a heat nipple gone bad. http://sutherlands.com/resources/article.php?id=18&aut_c_set=1331308909