Laws for landlords

[Food Lady]

They just replaced our water heater. (I don't know why--last one worked fine.) I temped the water and it's only 85 degrees. It used to be 130. I know there are laws to regulate conditions. Here they are required to insulate well enough so that the apartment sits at 55 or above without heat turned on. Is there a minimum temperature for hot water the landlord provides?

[draggar]

How large is the water heater and how long as it been since it was installed? it can take several hours for a water heater to heat the water - longer for large units.

[Food Lady]

It was installed yesterday. I came home at 8:30 pm and they were no longer fiddling with it. This morning at 8:00 I had an 85-degree shower for 5 minutes before it turned ice-cold. It's been 85 degrees consistently for a few hours this afternoon. I think they installed an energy-saving one at expense of our comfort.

[BookstoreEscapee]

It was installed yesterday. I came home at 8:30 pm and they were no longer fiddling with it. This morning at 8:00 I had an 85-degree shower for 5 minutes before it turned ice-cold. It's been 85 degrees consistently for a few hours this afternoon. I think they installed an energy-saving one at expense of our comfort.

It should still get plenty hot. And should not get cold after 5 minutes. Call the landlord and let them know; they may just have to adjust the settings. Otherwise you should be able to find info on tenants rights on your state/county's website if they don't seem inclined to fix it.

[Food Lady]

Thank you. I may have to check it out. Left landlord a voicemail.

[draggar]

Yeah, overnight is long enough to allow most water heaters ot heat up - hopefully they didn't install one of those "on demand" systems.

[thegiraffe]

Have you seen the water heater? It doesn't look like this, does it?

http://thereifixedit.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/krisd-waterheater.jpg?w=338&h=450

*scampering off...*

[NightWatch]

We had that problem with our water heater for bit. Make sure the pilot light is lit and there should be a dial on the front that lets you turn up the heat of the water. They may have simply forgot to turn the heat up. As long as you don't have young kids in the house, should be fine to turn the knob to it's hottest setting.

[LionMan]

Electical water heaters have a temperature setting on them. You have to go inside a panel but then you just turn a knob to raise or lower the temperature. You should find the right one after a few adjustments.

[protege]

They may have simply forgot to turn the heat up. As long as you don't have young kids in the house, should be fine to turn the knob to it's hottest setting.

I was going to suggest that. When I first moved in, I was constantly running out of hot water. Not the thing you want when you're taking a shower--going from nice and warm, to icy cold--sucks :eek: Seems the prior owner (an elderly couple), who was attempting to save money by turning the water heat down. Needless to say, that got adjusted pretty damn quick ;)

[blas]

I don't like to sound cynical and Debbie Downer, but it just sounds like a typical cheapskate landlord to me.

[Food Lady]

We had that problem with our water heater for bit. Make sure the pilot light is lit and there should be a dial on the front that lets you turn up the heat of the water. They may have simply forgot to turn the heat up. As long as you don't have young kids in the house, should be fine to turn the knob to it's hottest setting. Wish I could. The heater supplies our whole building; only the manager has access to it. I saw as I was coming home this afternoon that he and the electrician were working on it again.

[HYHYBT]

Yeah, overnight is long enough to allow most water heaters ot heat up - hopefully they didn't install one of those "on demand" systems.

What's wrong with on-demand water heaters?

[poofy_puff]

Wish I could. The heater supplies our whole building; only the manager has access to it. I saw as I was coming home this afternoon that he and the electrician were working on it again.

Sounds like other people besides you have been complaining about cold showers.