We just moved into a house built in '98 - why would it take a long time for the water to get hot?

Do I need a new hot water heater?We just moved into a house built in '98 - why would it take a long time for the water to get hot?
No, its not likely the water heater. Its working just fine, that's why youre getting hot water, eventually.





The problem is that the heater is a long distance from the tap so it takes a while for the water that has cooled off in the pipes to be flushed out and for hot tank water to reach the tap.





Very wasteful of water.





There are two things you can do.





1. Have a recirculating pipe and pump installed that continuously circulates the water from the farthest tap back to the hot water heater. This will require plumbers skills and will have a high initial cost but is the best solution.





2. Install an under counter electrical on-demand water heater. Less costly, but will use more electricity, and will be effective only at the tap where installed.We just moved into a house built in '98 - why would it take a long time for the water to get hot?
It sounds like one of you heating elements is bad, so it is heating with just one. These aren't hard to replace, nor super expensive. Have someone check it before you replace it.





Be Blessed!
I'm afraid if you can't tell us anything we cannot give a sensible answer.
The hot water heater is far away from the spigot your checking the temperature at.and it takes awhile for the hot water to get there. Water heaters fill with rust over time and that can cause problems with the amount of hot water you receive.
Depends on your hot water system.....Gas, Electricity, Oil Etc and also the settings for same Thermostat, Timing Etc.
If you have an electric heater, then one of the elements may be burned out. Normally, it is the bottom one to go first. Since you just moved to the house, you don't know it this is normal or not.





If it is a gas heater, then look at the temp setting and you can increase it some and see if that helps.





If you are not happy with the heater, then call in a repairman and have it looked at. You can always get another one, and this time get one that is bigger. good luck.
If you lived in a place that had a gas water heater and this house has electric you will notice that it takes almost twice as long to heat the full tank.





This is a fact of life as far as electric water heaters go. You can replace it with a larger model so you have more hot water or you can install a tankless model.





You could also have a bad dip tube in the tank. Here is a website with more info.





http://www.thehomeinspector.com/Clients/鈥?/a>
could be the temperature is set too low,. or the heater is too small or it is just busted.also try putting on a water heater blanket %26amp; pipe insulation on all pipes .





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