Thermostat
If you feel like your hot-water is way too hot, before you call a professional, check the thermostat. Your water being too hot is usually the result of the thermostat being set at too high of a temperature. If this is the case, verify that your hot water heater thermostat is set somewhere in the range of 110 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
One way to test if your thermostat is faulty is to lower the temperature on your hot-water settings. Even if it is set to the recommended range of 110-140 degrees Fahrenheit. If lowering it does not trigger your hot-water heater to turn off then there is probably a problem with your thermostat.
Another thing you should probably check in regards to your thermostat is if it is sitting flush on your hot-water heater. If it isn’t, it could be causing problems by giving inaccurate readings.
If the thermostat is sitting flush, and your hot-water heater isn’t turning off when you lower the settings, then you will probably need to replace your thermostat. This is not an easy task and not recommended unless you have experience in that field. Call a professional for additional help.
Hard water
Hard water contains dissolved minerals (Calcium in particular) that can build up in your hot-water heater. This can cause your hot-water heater to have problems heating your water. This can cause your hot-water heater to have water that is too hot or too cold.
One way to solve this is to flush the hot-water heater.
- Turn your hot-water heater off
- Give your hot-water heater time to cool down so that you are handling scorching hot water or tank
- Drain the hot-water heater. This will help remove all the build-up at the bottom of the tank.
- When done, fill the hot-water heater back up and turn it on.
Heater elements
Depending on what kind of electric hot-water heater you have, a hot-water heater can one to two heating elements. One problem a heating element can cause is if it begins to ground out, and stay on all the time. This can cause your water to become way too hot.
Simply changing out your heating elements can solve this problem.
