Water Heater – An Essential Home Appliance
Were you looking forward to a nice warm bath after a long day’s work, only to find that the water is just not hot enough? Or in the middle of your shower, you find rust-colored water flowing out of your tap?
In modern day living, water heaters can be found in many households. They are now more a necessity, then a luxury, even in Singapore’s hot tropical climate. We use hot water when taking our baths, washing our hands, washing our greasy dishes, washing our stained or dirty clothes, sterilizing utensils or floors and more.
So imagine having to manually boil or heat up water for our all our hot water needs and you would understand the important role a good functioning water heater plays in our life. So naturally, we would want to repair our faulty water heater as soon as possible, to prevent any inconveniences it may cause.
Some of the more common problems caused by a faulty water heater are listed below.
Water Not Hot
If you find that the water from your water heater is not hot, it may be because there is no current flow to the heating element.
Check the circuit breaker – there could be an electricity trip.
Next check the thermostat is set to the desired temperature.
Loose wiring can also result in no current flow and hence the water unable to heat up.
Another cause may be that your heating element has malfunctioned. This problem can often be fixed by replacing the heating element.
Leaky Water Heater
A leaky water heater may arise when there is water leakage from the storage tank, or from the pipes leading to and from it.
Water Is Too Hot
The heating element is controlled by the thermostat, and if the latter is not working properly, no electricity will flow to the element.
Thus if the water is too hot, check the thermostat’s setting.
If you find that the thermostat is malfunctioning, simply change it to rectify the problem.
Rust Colored Water
The anode rod of the water heater prevents the tank from getting rusty.
Over time, the anode dissolves and the tank begins to rust, thus causing rusty water.
When scale builds up on the heating element, rusty water also appears.
Resolve the problem by cleaning or replacing the element.
Water Heats Up Too Slowly
Since the thermostat controls the heating element, if you find that water heating up too slowly, try adjusting the thermostat higher.
If this does not solve the problem, possibly either the thermostat, or the heating element, or both have malfunctioned.
Another cause could be the sediments that have built up in the water tank over time. In this case, simply clean up the water tank.
Rumbling Noise
When you hear a rumbling noise, it may be due to scale which has built up on the heating element.
Cleaning or replacing the element would fix the issue.
The water heater is quite a dangerous electric appliance to try to repair it yourself if you do not have the expertise or appropriate tools. We highly recommend leaving the job to our professional plumber as he will be able to complete the job speedily, effortlessly and most importantly – safely.
So book an appointment with us via our contact form today.