Pages

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Hot Water

This morning I enjoyed my first hot shower since Friday. It was luxurious, but just about every second the water was running I was worrying that it would be the last drop of warmth.

The weekend involved draining the tank twice, a broken valve, and a ice-cold shower. There was microwaved water to brush my teeth with (they're very sensitive to temperature) and more microwaved water to wash my face with.

Now there's the prospect of a new tank to replace the 28 year old one that is clearly giving up the ghost.

5 comments:

Coffeypot said...

Not many things better than a hot shower and not many things worse than a cold shower.

Deb said...

Wow! 28 years out of a hot water tank is really good.... We replaced one last year that was only 8 years old but that was because we didn't want it to burst and the symptoms were there.

Hope that you can enjoy hot water on a regular basis soon!

Anonymous said...

Ooh, this rocks! (heh heh) Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Um, I don't know what happened to my comment, but that's not what I typed!

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Biker Buddy says that with an electric hot water heater, there are basically only 2 main things that can go wrong, other than loose wires.

1)the element
2)It can spring a leak and flood the basement.

The element can burn out if it gets gfull of crud which is why the thing needs to be drained. Gettin soft water would help prevent build up of hard water crud.

If the element is burned out, it can be replaced--infinitely. However, if their is crud inside that can be drained out, it will burn out the new one. Vinegar can dissolve the crud but makes a terrible smell in the water for a while.

It can be FLUSHED but draining and refilling repeatedly which helps flush out the crud (and smell, if you added vinegar). It's a lot of work. Cheaper than a new water heater.

However, once it starts leaking, it's a goner, unless it is leaking at the valve and the valve can be replaced.

Good luck with it.