There is nothing quite like the rude awakening of a cold shower when you were expecting a relaxing start to your morning. In many cases, your water heater’s thermostat may be the culprit. But knowing how these components fail can save you from a significant amount of unnecessary stress.

The Shiver of a Broken Connection

Your water heater thermostat monitors the temperature of water inside the tank. If you have an electric water heater, you have two of these sensors. If the top thermostat fails, it will not send power to the heating elements. Then, you will be stuck with nothing but chilly water for your showers and baths. A plumber can check whether the internal contacts got stuck or burnt out.

The Danger of Overheating and Scalding

While not having access to hot water is annoying, a thermostat that refuses to turn off is actually a much more serious situation. If the sensor gets stuck in the “on” position, the heating elements will continue to cook the water until it reaches a boiling point. This creates an extreme amount of pressure inside the tank that can be very dangerous for your plumbing and your family, especially if you have children in your home.

A sign that temperatures are too high in the tank is that you will hear strange popping or rumbling sounds. This is the sound of steam bubbles forming at the bottom of the heater. Every tank has a safety feature called a T&P valve that will dump water onto the floor if things get too hot. However, you never want things to get to this point. A malfunctioning thermostat is the root cause of this troublesome issue.

The Frustration of Lukewarm Water

Sometimes, your thermostat may not read water temperatures correctly. This usually happens when sediment builds up in your tank. Your thermostat will think the tank reached the right temperature when it is only sensing the heat trapped in the mineral buildup. So, it shuts off too early. This causes you to only have hot water for a few minutes before it runs cold.

Let Us Restore Your Home’s Hot Water

The good news is that thermostat replacement is comparatively cheaper than purchasing a whole new appliance. Once the job is done, you will have the hot water that you expect. If your water heater is not performing well, call the team at Almighty Plumbing to restore the hot water to your Antioch, CA home today.