I just moved into a shared home and noticed that the hot water in my shower lasts for only about a minute before it turns ice cold. I told my landlord about this and he said he would rise the heat setting in the tank, which did make the water hotter but it would still last only abut 1 minute. My landlord later told me he would contact the maintenance guy.
After a few days he told me they could find nothing wrong with the heater so it's probably other people using the hot water at the same time, he pretty much told me to deal with it in a nicer way.
However I've tried showering at various times during the day and the shower behaves the same way.
I was wondering if you guys could come up with some ideas I could tell my landlord about what might be happening, and see if we can have a solution to this problem.
I am unaware if other tenants who might share the same heater are having the same issue, nor do I know the capacity or model of the heating tank.
Thanks in advance!
Best Answer
If the water heater is a tank type heater the dip tube for the cold water inlet may have broken off or become dislodged. Shortly after you start to shower the cold inlet water mixes with the hot water at the top of the tank and you get a cold shower. I would ask the other tenants if they are having the same problem. You could also try drawing hot water from another source such as a sink and see if you get the same results.