All, a question for the group. New construction home but have noticed an issue with the hot water, specifically in the morning or after the tank hasn't been heavily used for awhile (maybe 2-3 hours). I've thought about turning the temp up, but the master bathroom has a rain shower that has the restrictor out of, and even at the lowest temp setting it's fairly hot (that is until you quickly run out if it's the first show in the morning/after not a lot of use. I've done a bit of research and I'm wondering if I need to adjust the differential of the tank, but can't seem to find where to do that. Any help/thoughts would be appreciated. The middle picture, I keep trying to Google but can't seem to find what that does.









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unplug the recirculating pump and shut the yellow valve below it.
see if that makes a difference.

Does the water heater state the date of manufacture is 2015?

Build date is 8/5/2015

What do I lose by turning that off?

if it is functioning properly you lose quick hot water at the remote faucets (pipe will have to 'warm up')

HOWEVER

if the 'return system' (of which the pump itself is only ONE part) is not functioning properly you have completed the first (of many many more to come) trouble-shooting tasks

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

exactly.. turn it of temporarily to see if the problem goes away.
if the problem persists then open the valve and plug the pump in again.
now, comes the real fun of figuring out what is wrong.
BTW, the differential on the thermostatic control is not adjustable.

I'll try that tonight. With the comment around the 2015 build, anything that differentiates those?

Also what does the 1-7 represent on the recirculating pump?



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variable speed

faster is probably NOT better for a multitude of reasons

==============================================

"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

insulate the recirculating pipe as well as the hot coming out of the tank.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I will try shutting off the recirc pump tomorrow. Stupid question, but do I even have the correct hot water heater. The master has a Rohl rain shower, shower head that puts out at least 6-7 GPM given the restricter is out. After 7ish minutes in the shower, even after it's been at full temperature, the water starts to cool.

after 7 minutes you have used at LEAST 1/2 the water in the tank - said tank is refilling with COLD


put the restrictor back in the shower head

unless you are a blood relative of John David R.................

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

it is juuuuust possible, unlikely but possible, that the cold water inlet 'dip tube' is broken resulting in 'crossover' at top of tank when using hot water instead of the cold being fed to the bottom and 'mixing'



DX would require some disassembly of inlet piping

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

I will try to find it, not sure if the builder left it.

If I can't, would a higher BTU tank help with this. Given the space I don't think I can get much larger than a 75 gallon tank.

Was looking at this:

[www.hotwater.com]

or

[www.hotwater.com]

This forum is incredibly helpful, thank you all!



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the heater you are looking at is incredibly expensive.
it is also incredibly complicated
the burner is on the top and the flue is on the bottom.
frankly, if you need more hot water then a tankless is what i would recommend.

they make them as modulating units so a large heater will fire at a much lower rate if you are washing you hands as opposed to using the big shower head.

[hotwater.tech]

rinnai makes top quality heaters.
[www.amazon.com]

Thank you!!! I'm assuming the 11 GPM should keep up with the shower head even in the Chicago winters?

Also I see it has a recirculation pump, does that mean it will keep hot water close to the faucet like it is today?

Thank you again, very very helpful and saved me a ton of money.

A warm shower helps you begin your day on a positive note. But in the first hours after each use, a little warm water remaining in the pipes can make a big difference to the comfort of the people who live with [watertechguide.com]. The warm water left in the pipes becomes cooler gradually and the comfort of living with this tepid residue can reduce quite noticeably.



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