We’ve learned from frustrated home owners in Tacoma who have warm water in their home.

In our experience the most typical causes of this problem could be:
A broken dip tube
Buildup in tank
Malfunctioning heating system

Let’s look at every one of those causes in more detail.

A broken dip tube

The dip tube is the part where the cold water enters the water heater tank. Generally, a functioning dip tube shoots water to the bottom of the tank which can be immediately warm up.

Still a dip tube leaves water on top of the tank. The socket for water heater to your home is on top as well.

So a dip tube can determine water moves to your home’s hot water pipes before being heated.

Buildup in the tank

Another cause of warm water not being hot is sediment buildup in the water heater tank.

Water that reaches your water heater tank includes dissolved minerals. Such small quantities of sand along with other debris are also included. While the water becomes warmer from the water heater, the debris settles to the bottom of the tank.

Water heater burners are on the bottom of the tank.

So this buildup of debris can make your water heater capable of heating your water, leading it to warm up.

In case your water heater is old (generally 10-15 years) or you’ve neglected the recommended routine maintenance on your water heater (such as flushing it once a year), it may be there’s an issue with the heating system.

A water heater fails at these points:
Thermal switch
Thermostat
Heating element

Diagnosing and repairing these problems is best left to us so please give us a call.