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fromemily · Oct 2, 2004, 03:59 PM

?? We live in a small two bedroom house which we rent. The landlord put in a 28 gallon hot water heater. We have a washing machine but no dishwasher. Sometimes we have NO hot water, sometimes we have some. The longest shower we can take is 4-6 minutes. It is a real hassle. It is a brand new hot water heater. Is it because the hot water heater is too small? Is it because there is an electrical problem to the hot water heater? I can't take it! I get shampoo in my hair and then I have to rinse it out with icy cold water. What should I do? I know environmentalists will kill me, but the way I relax is long hot showers or hot baths. Plus, sometimes I actually DO need to wash and condition my hair and shave and all of that. I try the "military" shower thing but this is getting ridiculous. What could be wrong? What should you do? Would you do?
Emily

speedball1 · Oct 3, 2004, 05:59 AM

Good morning Emily,
Your land lord skimped on the heater size. A 40 gallon, 220 volt double element elrctric hot water heater or a 40 gallon propane or natural gas heater is the normal size for a average home. You didn't say if this heater was electric or gas. If electric, one element or two? If gas, propane or natural gas?
How many in your family? Either way you're undersized for the average home.

fromemily · Oct 3, 2004, 11:45 AM

The heater is a 28 gallon electric water heater. I don't recall the brand (I'm not at home). I can check and get back to you. Is the water heater simply too small - or is it not getting enough power? I know they had to use an "adapter" to plug it in. Perhaps they have it plugged into an outlet that is not providing sufficient power?

speedball1 · Oct 3, 2004, 01:23 PM

What your landlord installed was a 28 gallon, 110 volt travel trailer water heater. This costs you much more in electricity to run then a 220 volt heater. I hope you don't have children because a 28 gallon heater will not service a family over two people with enough hot water. Do you not have 220 volts in your house? What do you cook with? In attempting to "save a buck" you landlord has put a hardship on you and I would surely talk to him about it. Let me know how you make out.
Tom

labman · Oct 3, 2004, 01:24 PM

Your water heater is maybe skimpy, but if it was working right, should be doing better than it is. To use up 28 gallons of hot water in a 6 minute shower, would mean you are using enough hot water to fill a 5 gallon pail in a minute plus whatever cold water you are mixing in. How long do you think it would take to fill a 5 gallon bucket? If you really are using that much hot water, turn the faucet back or install a low flow shower head. You want nice hot water, but you don't need 10 gallons a minute of it. Will the hot water alone get too hot to hold your hand in it? It could be as simple as turning the thermostat up. It may have been set too low at the factory or by the landlord. The heater may not be working properly either.

If the wiring is inadequate, it would be more likely to heat up than seriously reduce the performance of the heater. Those adapters would be OK if they were ever installed properly. If the heater has an outside metal shell, it should be grounded. This normally is taken care of with a 3 prong cord. A 3 prong adapter where the grounding tab is screwed to outlet cover is OK if the frame of the outlet is grounded. What upsets me is when I see a 3 prong adapter plugged into a 3 prong outlet defeating the ground wire protection.