Lack Of Hot Water Problem (hot water heater, insulate, bathrooms, kitchen)

[breeinmo.]

My hot water heater is only about 6 months old. Yesterday and most of today, no hot water. I thought I had a bum water heater. Its working now, and when I told my son how I found out, he thinks my pipes froze. I tuned my facet on to the left for hot and Nothing came out. I thought my town had shut the water off to do repairs until I turned it to cold and it worked.

So can anyone tell me what's going on and what I should be doing? We have snow now and its gotten as cold as 2 degrees below with more cold expected this coming week. I used to live in the San Berdo mountains and never had to do anything special for the pipes. So I'm wondering if its the pipes or the W.H. and how do I find out which. TIA

[North Beach Person]

It does sound like a frozen pipe. It's counterintuitive but the hot side will, many times, freeze first.

You need to trace the line where you can and see if there's air infiltration or lack of insulation. If either you need to fix the problem.

If the line freezes in the wall you may have to just keep your heat higher at night.

[Driller1]

If you can open the cabinet doors to let some hear to the pipes.

I use my hair dyer on the pipes when mine freezes......most of the time you will find it is frozen in the joints.

After you get it running....leave it run a little at night.

[breeinmo.]

Thanks guys (lady) lol I have no clue how to trace it, any ideas? And if its thawed now, would there even be a way o find out? My 1st fear when my son brought that up, is that one burst. If so, would I know it by any certain signs? The house is a two story, 100+ years old and very little insulation as far as I can tell.

Driller, I like the idea of opening the cabinets, that I can do. My heat doesn't go to the kitchen as well as most of the house and it does get very cold in there. You say you use a hairdryer, how do you know when they freeze? I know I sound dumb, but have never experienced this problem.


Also, do I use the cold or hot water dripping at night? The reason I ask, my water comes out like its been in the freezer. I'd hate to wake up to a flood, if the pipes freeze. Anyone have any idea of cost and trouble to insulate pipes? Is it like I'm thinking, they wrap the pipes? Thanks again for your help, its just me here and I don't have anyone close by to help out.

[karen_in_nh_2012]

At my previous house (which I still own but rent out now), my kitchen pipes would occasionally freeze. It was pretty disconcerting (to say the least!) to get up in the morning, go to the kitchen, turn on the faucet, and have NOTHING happen.

I would open the cabinet doors and place a little space heater there blowing hot air directly at the pipes. I would keep checking every hour or so, and eventually I'd get a little trickle of water, then the next time I checked I'd usually have regular water pressure again. But it did usually take several hours, and it was always scary.

On nights that are going to be REALLY cold, you might try opening the cabinet doors and placing an oil-filled radiator in front of the cabinet (safer than a regular space heater, and probably more economical than turning up the heat for the whole house).

BTW, when I had my kitchen remodeled, the contractor did something with the pipes so that I literally never had the frozen pipe problem again. Can't remember what it was but I THINK he moved some sections of pipe inside the cabinet instead of keeping them in the exterior wall. Whatever it was, it worked.

Oh, and the suggestion about leaving a trickle of water running on those really cold nights works too. I lived on an Air Force base in New England when I was in high school, and on really cold nights, they would ask everyone to leave their water running just a tiny bit. Seems like a huge waste of water, but fixing frozen or burst pipes would have been even more expensive.

Good luck, and don't panic (easy for me to say!) -- this really is one of those house problems that can be fixed RELATIVELY easily!

[1AngryTaxPayer]

They make a recirculatory impellor that will send the hot back and forth from your hot water heater. Another plus is instant hot water without wasting any.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by breeinmo.

My hot water heater is only about 6 months old. Yesterday and most of today, no hot water. I thought I had a bum water heater. Its working now, and when I told my son how I found out, he thinks my pipes froze. I tuned my facet on to the left for hot and Nothing came out. I thought my town had shut the water off to do repairs until I turned it to cold and it worked.

So can anyone tell me what's going on and what I should be doing? We have snow now and its gotten as cold as 2 degrees below with more cold expected this coming week. I used to live in the San Berdo mountains and never had to do anything special for the pipes. So I'm wondering if its the pipes or the W.H. and how do I find out which. TIA

Is it all of the hot water faucets in the house or just one or two. If it's all of the, likely the source of the freeze is near the water heater. Where is your water heater located? Is it outside or in a garage? If so, it might be frozen right there. Check the first tap in the water line and work back/forward from there to locate the freeze. If it is right at the water heater, get a space heater to keep that space warm until this cold snap goes away.

[TFW46]

Originally Posted by breeinmo.

...do I use the cold or hot water dripping at night?

I've always had at least two faucets trickling when the temps get below freezing.

For the faucet in the kitchen, I'll have the HOT water running slightly and I'll open the cabinet doors to let the warm house air circulate to the kitchen pipes.

The other faucet I let trickle is in one of the two bathrooms. For that one, I'll have the COLD water running slightly.