Providing your home or business with hot water is handled in one of three basic ways. Water is heated in a storage tank using either natural gas or electrical resistance or water is heated on the fly using in-line or tankless heating units. In-line or flash water heaters come in gas or electric models as well. However, one of the most common of these systems is the electric water heater in Charlotte NC. This is partly because all electric homes are very popular options, but it is also due to the fact that electric water heaters provide hot water very quickly.
The electric water heater will have one or two heating elements depending on its size. The average home will use a forty gallon or larger tank which comes with dual elements. The system works so efficiently because the upper element heats the water quickly while the lower element keeps the water hot. There are a couple of problems associated with electric water heaters that may require the help of a plumber. The first is a broken element. The internal elements can corrode over time and will eventually develop a break in the circuit. The end result is lack of heat in the damaged element. With dual element tanks the other circuit should still function unless the unit only has a single thermostat. However, the majority of newer electric water heaters come with one thermostat for each element.
The second problem with electric water heaters is a shorted element. This is normally a problem with either scale deposits on an element or the element has broken and pieces of it have bonded to the other side. You will know you have this problem because the water will continue to heat until an emergency switch has tripped. At this point the water heater has no power and won’t heat water any longer. Another indicator will be extremely hot water before the switch trips. The safety switch is designed to detect excessive temperature from the tank. This problem should be remedied as quickly as possible because it can waste a lot of electricity whenever the switch is reset. If your home or business needs repair or replacement of an electric water heater in Charlotte NC be sure to contact the experts at All About the Pipes Plumbing.
