Very little hot water

[Crankshaft]

I'm new to the board, been doing a lot of reading, now I need to ask your opinion. This could be a novel so I'll avoid that by keeping this as direct as possible.

I had an addition added onto my house. We just finished a few weeks ago. The additon included a new laundry room, half bathroom, master bedroom, master closet and master bathroom. The original house and the addition are on a slab.

We specified the fixtures we wanted for the bathroom in the contract but the builder or his plumber never inspected the existing plumbing and hot water tank to see if it would meet the requirements of the fixtures we wanted.

Plumber tied the new additions plumbing into the hot and cold connections of an existing sink. He used ball valves and copper lines. The lines from the sink go through a wall, behind the stairs, down another wall and into a manifold in the floor. None of these pipes are accessible now, all are hidden by drywall (including the manifold).

The pipe run from the manifold to the shower is about 20 to 25 feet. The sinks are a bit closer, the tub about the same distance as the sink. The laundry tub is closest to the manifold. The half bath is farther away but on a different circuit (it's hooked to the lines from an old bathroom that was removed).

At our kitchen sink we can get the hot water temp up to 120 degrees. At the sink at which the addition is hooked up we can get 120 degrees, the laundry tub maxes out at 113 degrees, the master bath sinks top out at 106 to 108 degrees and the shower won't go above 102 degrees.

The weird part is that we can get 120 degrees for a short while at the tub.

Taking a luke warm shower is getting old and no fun.

We do have a 40 gallon hot water tank which will be replaced by a 75 gallon tank soon. That is to help with filling up the large master bath whirlpool tub.

None of the hotwater lines in the slab were insulated before concrete was poured. Some have said they should have been, others say no need to.

My builder says it's not his problem. He said we should have known what we needed when we specified the fixtures we did. He won't pay for the bigger tank or offer any other fixes for the lack of hot water.

I have been told to get and install a hot water recirculating pump. Would this and a large hot water tank fix the problem? Is there a bigger problem that's going to bite me later on down the road??

Any thoughts and insights are greatly appreciated. My wife and I are not very happy after all the money we spent and we can't use the tub or take a decent hot shower.

Fred

 

[Jadnashua]

A recirulation system will only get what hot water you have to the point of use quicker, not make what gets there hotter. SOrry. Do you have room for a second, new hot water tank nearer that new bath?

From what I've read, hopefully, they put sleeves or insulation around that copper pipe if it is burried in the slab. Copper and concrete do not get along together well, especially hot.

Starting out with the water hotter at the tank will help at the end of the line, but make it more dangerous at the other closer sources. My unprofessional opinion.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Crankshaft]

Thanks for the reply.

The contractor suggested turning up the tank but like you said that would make the rest of the faucets too hot.

The only insulation on the pipes is where they come out of the slab, nothing in the slab.

The only way to add another hot water tank is with an electric hot water tank. I have heard that those cost a lot to run vs gas. I don't have any room for another gas water heater flue and gas line.

 

[Dubldare]

Look for a temperature limiting device on the shower faucet. Assuming this is a single handle faucet, the limiter should be directly inside the handle. The limiting device prevents the handle from turning to a full hot position. Perhaps adjusting that will help.

 

[Crankshaft]

That was the first thing we adjusted. We turned it all the way up and we still can only get 102 degrees out of it.

 

[BennyBaby]

I had a similar problem...it probably has nothing in common with yours.

We bought a house with an electric hot water heater, the inspector said the tank is fine, but it may need replacing in a few years due to its age. After about one year in the house my wife started complaining about having to take lukewarm baths, but, every other hot water outlet was working fine, I could get steaming hot water out of every faucet and from every shower head. I never took a cold shower, I could spend 5 or 10 minutes in the shower and get good hot water. I ignored the problem for a few months and then my wife complained again, I had always insisted it was her imagination, however, I never take a bath, I just shower instead. I started pouring a bath, and the water was coming out nice and hot, then it just turned cold after about two minutes.
After investigating the hot water heater I found the the hot water lines coming from the top of the tank were almost clogged due to mineral build up inside the lines. I did two things, replaced the tank, and cut about 12 inches of clogged pipe out of the system. I installed a new tank, with fresh copper pipe and fittings. The problem wwent away.
I would guess your tank is bad.