Troubleshooting Hot Water Issues

When you don’t have hot water it can be an upsetting time. Here are some basic tips to get you back to hot water or eliminate things so the service agents can be better prepared when they come out. It is based on testing storage hot water systems, i.e. solar, gas or electric.

So you have cold water at the tap:

1) Are all hot water taps Cold?

NO, call a local plumber to fix the tap
YES, goto test 2

2) Turn all the taps off and then check the meter at the front of the house. Is it spinning?

YES, you may have a leak in the hot water line thats independant of the hot water system. Or possibly a failed relief valve, this can be easily checked on the hot water system visually. Call us on 6222 6676 for service/support to arrange a call out, standard charges apply.

NO, goto test 3

3) Check the water temperature at the Pressure Temperature Relief valve at the top of the tank (see picture). Is the water Cold exiting from this?

NO, there is a major temperature difference between the warm water in the tank and the taps. Then this indicates that either the tempering valve may have failed or if very recent plumbing was done in the house that they may have breached the hot/cold lines.
Call us on 6222 6676 (Valves are covered by a 1 year manufacturer’s warranty)

YES, then goto test 4

4) If you have Solar, check the booster is on. If you have Gas, check the burner is on. If you have Electric, check your fuse has not tripped. Wait an hour, do you have hot water yet?

NO. Then Proceed to test 5

YES. Excellent. If you have solar then proceed to test 6.

5) Check the temperature of the water coming from the hot and cold taps. Is the temperature identical?

YES. Sounds like you have a problem, call us on 6222 6676.

NO. It might be a thermostat setting, call us on 6222 6676.

6) So the Solar side is not working? Is there an obvious reason i.e. Visitors over, Cloudy Day, Shading over panels in winter?

YES, then don’t worry anymore, your’re back to hot water, so now so enjoy a shower.

NO, then get one of our experts in hot water systems out. Call us on 6222 6676