Not Enough Hot Water

My shower only has hot water for a short time in the mornings. The first person to take a shower gets less than 5 minutes of hot water. But then if we don't use any hot water for about 20 minutes, the next person has all the hot water they need. Our hot water tank was installed in 1996. Any ideas?

Sounds like it might be the shower valve. Have you tried checking the sink for hot water when the shower gets cool / cold?

I have a similar situation but not quite as drastic. In my case I believe that the problem rests in the thermostat set point at which the water heater starts heating up. I have it set for about 130 deg F and the water heater does take it up to this temperature. However the temperature of the water has to drop quite a bit until the water heater kicks in again. When it sits without usage overnight the water temperature drops down to a “low†level but not low enough for the water heater to initiate a heat cycle. So in the morning the water is at its “coolest†and therefore the first person does not have an over abundance of hot water. As the water temperature drops due to usage, the water heater kicks in and heats up the water to the maximum preset temperature. Now the water is at its hottest so you have plenty of hot water. Just my .02 cents worth.

Cass - I just had to do some work to my shower valve, so that might be it. But why would it only do it to the first person in the shower?

jk60 - Your idea sounds more like what might be going on. Can anything be done to fix it (other than a whole new hot water tank)?

Also sounds like there could be something with the dip tube.........

rburt5 said:

jk60 - Your idea sounds more like what might be going on. Can anything be done to fix it (other than a whole new hot water tank)?

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If the problem is as I have indicated then I would think that a new thermostat may solve the problem. I say may simply because I have a Rheem 50 gallon water heater that is only 1 year old and it is exhibiting a similar problem. It is possible that that's how the thermostat was designed. So in my case I could be replacing the thermostat and gaining nothing. I think that calling customer service about this problem is a waist of time. They can't answer anything out of the ordinary. I also haven't pursued this because it doesn't seem to be as bad as your situation. We can take a shower in the morning. A bath is another story.