Have you ever been in a shower when the water goes from the perfect temperature to freezing cold and then back up to boiling hot again and it becomes near impossible to get the correct temperature adjusted? You’re not alone, there are a few common causes which lead to these symptoms and all of them can quite easily be fixed when you engage the correct plumber.
Common Causes
1. Probably the most common cause is related to use from continuous flow units or instantaneous hot water services. It was approx. 7 years ago when the South Australian Government introduced an incentive scheme where home owners would get a rebate from the installation of water saving shower roses. Unfortunately, this had an adverse effect on home owners with older style instant gas hot water systems. Due to the restriction of water flow through the shower head the flame would now fluctuate inside the furnace of the water heater. Therefore, with the older styles of water heaters it became necessary to adjust the flow restrictor to get consistent temperature at the shower.
2. If you own a storage style water heater then you could during the life of the heater experience the fluctuation of water which relates to a faulty tempering valve. The tempering valve controls the temperature into the house. It limits the temperature back to a safe level to protect people from scalding and allows the tank to maintain a temperature which kills bacteria. Over time these devices can become clogged and provide an inconsistent temperature delivery to the shower outlet. It is commonly noted in the shower as we have our entire body exposed to the water. Once again this can be a relatively easy fix if the device just needs cleaning out not a full replacement.
3. Probably the last yet still relatively common fault which can cause inconsistent temperature delivery to a water heater is clogged gas jets. When the jets are clogged only a small percentage of the flames will fire leading to a very inconsistent temperature delivery at the faucet. Over time the burners can calcify and various types of insects can find their way into these ports. This is an easy fix providing the hot water service is not to old and the parts can be taken apart easily enough.
Book An Appointment
If your experiencing inconsistent water temperature put an end to it now! Book an appointment with one of our service technicians and get start having the shower you deserve, a warm one! In most cases we will attend to your hot water demands within the same day and if it the system does need replacing this can also be done the same day, we look forward to helping you soon.
