Electric Water Heater Not Heating? Common Causes and Fixes

Most homes in Tampa Bay have an electric water heater. When it stops heating, the cause is usually one of a few simple things, and the symptom tells you a lot about which one. Here's how to narrow it down.

A Word on Safety

Electric water heaters run on 240 volts. Before removing any access panel, turn off the breaker for the water heater. If you're not comfortable working around electrical parts, the checks beyond the breaker are a job for a plumber.

No Hot Water at All

1. Check the breaker. Look for a tripped double breaker labeled for the water heater. Reset it once. If it trips again, something is shorted, so leave it off and call a plumber.

2. Check the high-limit reset. Most electric water heaters have a red reset button behind the upper access panel. It trips if the water gets too hot. With the breaker off, remove the panel, move the insulation aside, press the button firmly, replace everything and turn the breaker back on. If it trips again soon, the thermostat or an element has likely failed, and that needs fixing.

3. The upper element or thermostat has failed. On most electric tanks, the upper element heats first. If it fails, you get no hot water at all.

Lukewarm Water, or Hot Water Runs Out Fast

This usually means the lower element has failed, so only the top part of the tank heats. You get a little hot water, then it goes lukewarm. In Tampa Bay's hard water, the lower element is also where sediment piles up, and it can bury and burn out the element. See flushing a water heater.

Other causes: the thermostat set too low, or a household that has outgrown the heater. See what size you need.

Water Too Hot

Water that's scalding, along with the reset button tripping, usually means a thermostat stuck on. Turn the breaker off and have it checked. Many safety organizations recommend a setting of about 120°F.

Repair or Replace?

Elements and thermostats are inexpensive parts, and replacing them is a common repair on a heater in good shape. Replacement usually makes more sense when:

• The heater is more than about 10 years old
• The tank is leaking or rusty. See water heater leaking.
• Elements keep burning out from heavy sediment
• You want lower operating costs from a heat pump or a tankless unit. See gas vs. electric.

Still No Hot Water?

Believe Plumbing repairs and replaces electric water heaters across Tampa Bay, including Tampa, Riverview and Pinellas Park. See our water heater services or contact us.