Keep Your Shower Running

When you get out of bed on a cold, dark, early morning, and everything is cold, all you want is a nice shower to help you start your day. But what happens when your shower doesn’t give you the warm, comforting relief you are looking for? What if it trickles out, or has no hot water? Here are some things to troubleshoot if your shower has no pressure or hot water.

Water pressure

Are the hot and cold water equally affected?

If it’s only the hot water that is affected in terms of water pressure, the culprit may be a partially closed valve on the water heater. This is a quick fix – just find the valve and twist it to a fully open position and your shower should be back on schedule. It may also be limescale build up in your water heater.

If both are affected…

Does the sink have the same pressure issue?

If water pressure is affected elsewhere, the issue might be the main water shutoff valve being partially closed. Check for the valve by your water heater, or in the basement near the front of your house.

If the water pressure problem is only in the shower, you may want to check your faucets to see if they are clogged. Even if you don’t see the clog, it could still be a clog issue in the pipes. You may have a broken or cracked pipe. Try to clear the faucets using something like CLR; if that doesn’t work, you should call in experts to address the issue.

If you have a single handle faucet, it might be an issue of a worn-out mixing valve – this can affect both temperature and pressure, and you’ll probably need to bring in a plumber to help.

Water Temperature

If your water temperature is only affected in the shower, it is most likely an issue with the mixing valve, as above, or an issue with the anti-scalding safety valve being set too high. You can search online for information on how to adjust the settings on the anti-scald valve on your own, according to your faucet type, or call in an expert to help.

If the temperature is affected everywhere, and there is no hot water in your house, there are many more options. You could have a leaking water heater – if your tank can’t hold water, it can’t very well heat it. You can check your tank to see if it is empty. If so, you need to deal with this immediately by calling us to help.

This could also be a malfunctioning valve or thermostat, which will probably require a replacement.

Lastly, the weather outside could even affect your water temperature – depending on how efficient your water heater is, it may require extra insulation to not be affected by the surrounding temperatures.

If you don’t have a functional shower, it can be far more than a morning inconvenience – it can be a symptom of a larger problem (even a gas leak). If you can’t easily figure out the problem on your own, it’s time to call in the professionals to help!