My water heater is set at the default 120F temperature, I bought it 4 years ago brand new, and I remember for the first 2 years of use I would turn my shower faucet valve (located upstairs) to the middle (90 degrees) for a nice hot shower. Now I must turn the faucet far past the middle (130 degrees, towards the direction of hot) to get the temperature I used to be getting when it was new. I flushed out my tank fully and saw a lot of sediment come out of the hose but it still didn't help the unit perform like new.
I could set the water heater temp to "A" (130F) but the most energy efficient method is to keep it at the default 120F so I rather not do that.
Any ideas?
Best Answer
Like someone else said, run a hot water tap for a while and measure the temp. That's what your WH is supplying. If at about 120 or so, the WH is doing its job. If your shower has an automatic mixing valve, the cartridge may need to be replaced. We had the opposite problem....the mixing valve wouldn't mix enough cold water even on the coldest setting to make the shower tolerable....it was way too hot. Replacing the mixing cartridge solved the problem.
Bottom line, it's either the WH or a mixing valve (if you have one).