If you're only getting ice-cold water from your faucets, showers and sinks, there could be a few causes. Likely, the
Why is my hot water not working but my cold water is? If only the hot water is affected, this is often a boiler-related issue. It could be due to boiler settings like incorrect thermostat temperatures or timers. It's essential to verify the boiler's correct operation first before exploring pipework problems.
Possible Issue: One of the most common culprits for this predicament is a malfunctioning differential valve. This valve is responsible for controlling the flow of hot and cold water in your plumbing system. When it's not functioning correctly, it can lead to an imbalanced water supply, leaving you with cold water only.
You Have A Faulty Water Heater
One possibility is that the heating element in your water heater has burned out. This can happen over time due to normal wear and tear or result from sediment buildup in the tank. Another potential issue could be a faulty thermostat, which regulates the water temperature inside the tank.
Check the circuit breaker.
If you have an electric water heater, the first thing to check when experiencing hot water issues is your circuit breaker. A tripped circuit means the current was disrupted. As a safety measure, the circuit breaker flips.
Your hot water may not work for several reasons, from simple issues such as a tripped circuit breaker or a malfunctioning thermostat. Sometimes it's more complex problems such as a broken heating element in the water storage tank or a faulty water heater.
It may be due to a leak, a build-up of sediment or it could have become unplugged. Try to fix it by flushing the water heater. Allow it to heat up again and try using the faucet once more to see if the water comes out.
A diverter valve is a mechanism in a combi boiler that opens or closes to direct hot water either to radiators or taps and showers. A diverter valve may be faulty if your water is lukewarm, if your hot water taps work but your central heating does not or if your hot water taps only work when the central heating is on.
A likely explanation is that your faucet might be clogged. Over time, mineral deposits build up inside the plumbing fixtures after repeated use. This blockage doesn't allow the hot water to flow correctly. The problem becomes more prominent when combined with other plumbing issues, such as low water pressure.
If your cold water has frozen but water comes out of your hot water pipe, let the hot water run for 20 minutes. Sometimes this can help to thaw a frozen cold water pipe. If that doesn't work or your hot water pipe is frozen, use a hair dryer set on high heat.
Water Line Blockage
Mineral buildup can block the water lines leading to your kitchen sink. When one of these blockages occurs in your hot water supply, your sink faucet will only be able to provide you with cold water. If no water comes out, you know that you have a clog in the hot water inlet.
When you use up all of the hot water in a traditional water heater, you will often need to wait anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours or more for the water in the tank to reheat. This is why many people opt to switch to tankless water heaters.
If air gets trapped in your central heating or hot water system, this can stop hot water from circulating, causing radiators to stop heating up and hot water taps to stop running. Getting the hot water flowing again requires releasing the air out of the system.
First, find the shut off valve for the hot water and see if it's closed. If so, opening the valve could remedy the situation. But if the water still remains warm for only short periods of time, you may have a blockage or obstruction in the pipes or a problem with your bathroom shower valve.
If there's a problem with your boiler, don't attempt to fix the diverter valve yourself. You should always call a Gas Safe heating engineer to take a look at it. Any work carried out on a gas appliance is extremely dangerous.
Symptoms of a failed diverter Valve:
Below are some common symtoms and associated fault codes: Intermittent loss of power under boost conditions. Performance noticeably reduced. Excess noise from the intake upon acceleration.
Only a Gas Safe registered heating engineer can repair a stuck or faulty diverter valve.
The lack of hot water can often be resolved by looking for loose connections to the water heater and resetting any fuses in the circuit breaker box that may have tripped, causing the water heater to not work. After about an hour, your home will be supplied with warm water again if the breaker tripped.
There are several reasons why you might not have hot water, ranging from common problems, such as a problem with your water or power supply, boiler settings, thermostat, timer, recent power cut to more complex issues, such as boiler pressure, a potential airlock or frozen pipes.
If your hot water runs out too fast, you may have an issue with: Too much hot water demand from multiple sources at the same time. Sediment build up inside of your water heater tank. A broken dip tube.
If you're only getting ice-cold water from your faucets, showers and sinks, there could be a few causes. Likely, the heating elements inside your water heater are broken or not working properly—or, potentially, your thermostat is incorrectly set.
As water collects inside your hot water heater to be heated, it's common for debris in the water—like sand, dirt, and minerals—to settle at the bottom of the tank. As the particles collect on the bottom of the tank, the water heater can't effectively heat your water, resulting in lukewarm water only.