No hot water in house
 

Hey RS,

I currently have no hot water in all 3 floors (upper, middle, basement) of the house. No hot water comes out from the shower, washroom and kitchen sinks.

Already tried flipping the circuit switch, pressing the reset button on the water heater and waiting it out to refill itself lol with no success.

Any recommendations on who to call to get it fixed/checked out?

gas?

I lost hot water once because the boiler cracked and turned off the pilot light.

igniter?

what kind of hot water heater you have?

Just a regular hot water tank? gas or electric?

Or you have a condensing boiler with an indirect hot water storage tank?

Post a pic of your set up so we can help you

I had something happen with mine where it stopped working on the 'Medium' setting it was set at - when I turned it up a bit it started to work again and has been for a few years.

Check the pilot light.

While you're at it, you may want to verify how old the hot water tank is. General rule of thumb is that they are good for about 10 years, give or take a few here and there. At the same time, consider having your gas furnace looked at.

We recently changed both just before the winter. While it was a big expense, we've seen significant savings on our energy bills. Just some food for thought.

Hope these pics help cause i have no clue at all to those questions :derp:

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...psuhiep1bm.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...psjqcvtszd.jpg

Can I ask who you called to check yours / get it replaced and installed?

We moved in around 2004 or 2006 so ours is just about 10 years old give or take.

Alright so what you have there is a electric hot water tank.

check your breakers and reset them, thats the most common problem.

I called a few contractors for quotes, but went with Papa's Plumbing.

They were knowledgeable, prompt, professional, and offered a product that suited our needs. More so, they offered a price that could not be beat. I had a few friends in the industry who specialized in commercial plumbing and recommended Papa's to me and I would definitely use them again. Mind you, I understand there is a certain professional plumber in this thread, however. Hopefully this individual will reach out to you. :)

!Aznboi128 is correct - What you have is an electric hot water boiler. Start with his recommendation and report back on the results. Someone can point you in the right direction. If you're absolutely unsure, I would suggest seeking help from a professional plumber.

As stated above, check the breaker at your house electrical panel.

If that doesn't work, than either your heating elements burned out or the thermostat on the tank is shot.

Electric water heaters are pretty simple devices, you can figure this out.

But if the tank is at 10 years, just change it. Mine sprung a leak right at 10 years on the button, you don't want to risk it.

Already tried resetting the breakers as stated in OP - No luck.

Will probably give Papa's Plumbing a call

jeedee,

I would recommend you call a few other plumbing contractors to get written quotes. Save Papa's for last, but given your situation, I don't think it's very fun living in a house without hot water.

Consider getting a written quote on the repair of your existing hot water tank, and also a separate quote for the replacement of it. If you can repair it for a few hundred bucks and it will be good for a few years, go that route, but if a replacement is due, best to replace it altogether and suck up the expenses.

Let us know how it goes!

New 60 gallon tank and install should still be under 1k.
My gas Hot water tank was 950 delivered and installed.

Gave them a call yesterday and they told me its a $95 fee just to get someone to check what's wrong. Did that happen to you as well?

$100 is a steep price just for a diagnosis IMO. Ended up telling them on the phone I'll think about it and explore other options :fuckthatshit:

Thanks for the estimate on the price! Now I know what to expect.

My current tank is 184L capacity.....going from that to 60L would be a big change no?

If you live alone and want to have quick showers with nothing else using warm water, a smaller tank may be okay. Otherwise, if you have a 60 gallon, you should stick with a 60g. Have you tried turning up the thermostat? It will be under one of the two panels on the side of the tank. Takes ten minutes.

No, that did not happen to me. It may be how you asked.

I knew that my hot water tank was due for replacement, and also my furnace was dead (it was red tagged by Fortis) among other repairs and whatnot.

When I called Papa's, I simply explained to them that my furnace was red tagged and needed replacing, and to simply come over to give me a quote. No repairs/nothing. Most contractors should give you a free estimate/quote, but if you ask them to simply look at something for you, they will most likely charge.

I would try calling back to ask again. If they insist it will cost you $95, it's likely they are booked up with a lot of work. Otherwise, call other contracting companies.

How many people live in your house?

60 gallons is ~227 litres.

3. I think a 60 gallon tank (that i misread as litres and forgot the gallon:litre conversion :lol) would be more than enough

Not the most difficult thing to replace yourself if you have a little bit of mechanical ability...

Two electrical wires and two pipe connections.

And if you don't want to try solder pipe You can even go the easy route and use the stainless supply hoses with shark-bite fittings on the end...

An afternoon's work saved me an easy $500.

buy a new tank since that one was made in May of 02 and you should replace it anyways. Like everyone has said its super easy to replace so why pay someone hundred's to do such an easy job.

+1 to the above two responses. This water tank is something that can be a DIY job if you're up for the challenge.

My situation was a bit different - my appliances were red tagged and they were gas, not electrical, so I needed to hire a certified plumber to do the work. I did consider the DIY route, but after the labour/time etc. It was cheaper for me to get Papa's to do it.

Definately, I don't recommend DIY'ing gas stuff.