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dakota77 · Mar 8, 2013, 03:20 PM

Hey there,
We moved into a rental home about 3 months ago and I am experiencing the following problem. Our electric water heater (rhemglass) is set to 125F. The water in the master bathroom which is closest to the heater comes out at 116F, in the second bathroom at 109F and in the kitchen which is the furthest away from the heater (about 45 feet, if that) at only 104F. It also takes a really long time until any warm water at all comes out of the kitchen faucet. Now I'm having the problem that our dishwasher does not clean the dishes properly because the incoming water is just not hot enough and the heating element only works in the last cycle. First question I have is, is it normal that the differences in the water temperature between the different rooms are that high and second: do you think there is something wrong with the water heater or would we just have to set it to a higher setting. It only has 3 settings and the highest is 150F I believe. And would it bring our electricity bill significantly up if we set it to 150F? Thank you for your help!

ma0641 · Mar 8, 2013, 03:23 PM

If the pipes are in a crawl space or unheated basement, and the temp is cold, you will experience temp drop. Make sure all HW lines are insulated. What is the ambient outdoor temp now?

dakota77 · Mar 8, 2013, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by ma0641

If the pipes are in a crawl space or unheated basement, and the temp is cold, you will experience temp drop. Make sure all HW lines are insulated. What is the ambient outdoor temp now?

Thank you for your quick reply. The house does not have a basement and I am guessing, the pipes just run though the walls in the house. We are in Texas and even though right now it's only about 61 outside, we've already had days with temperatures in the 80ies and the problem is the same.

ma0641 · Mar 8, 2013, 05:04 PM

Think about it this way. Even if it goes through the walls, or possibly the attic, you have a 60 degree differential, known as "delta T". Your wall mass absorbs the heat in the pipe and the water cools. If it is 1 temp at the beginning and another at the end, that's where the heat goes.

ballengerb1 · Mar 8, 2013, 05:21 PM

Lack of insulation could be part of the issue but clogging hot water inlets in faucets and the dishwasher could also be problematic. Are your faucets single handle or two handle? The temp at the furthest faucet should be alomost the same as the first if you have run hot water for several minutes like during a shower.