You probably wake up in the morning craving a steaming mug of coffee and an ice-cold shower. Or perhaps a glass of wine and a freezing cold bath at the end of a long day is more your speed.
Actually, it’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to take a shower or bath, or even wash their hands, without a functioning water heater. If someone gave you the option of an ice bath or no bath at all, I suspect we’d all choose just to skip the bath altogether.
How Does a Water Heater Work?
Your water heater is clearly a valuable appliance, but do you know how it functions to provide warm water on demand? Your home has two main systems of pipes. One set brings clean, fresh water into your home from the municipal water supply or other freshwater supply.
The second set brings all of the used wastewater back out of your house and sends it to your local wastewater treatment plant. Inside a house, the freshwater supply splits into two separate lines. Nothing needs to be done to the incoming supply when you want cold water from your tap; it’s ready to use straight from the municipal supply.
If you want warm water for a shower or to wash your hands, it has to go through the water heater. The freshwater supply diverts to send some water into the heater while the rest goes directly to your faucets and toilets.
As you can imagine, not all parts of your bathroom plumbing are hooked up to get warm water. When you flush the toilet, it pulls water only from the cold-water supply. Other sources like showers and sinks lose some of their cold water until the toilet finishes filling, which is why you get blasted with hot water when someone flushes during your shower.
Water Heaters for Prefabricated Homes
Mobile homes need water heaters just like any other house, but the federal government has special regulations for the heaters in manufactured homes. Often, the heaters need to fit into cramped spaces, so additional safety specifications help reduce the chance of fires.
If the water heater’s space has a low ceiling, you can purchase a short-tanked heater. If it’s a narrow space, you can buy a tall, thin heater. Smaller spaces can’t usually fit full-sized water heaters, so mobile homeowners often have smaller reservoirs, which reduces their warm water supply.
Some mobile homes have exterior compartments for the water heater, in which case they can accommodate a full-sized heater. If you need a new water heater and are struggling to determine which one is suitable for your manufactured home, contact a professional for a consultation.
No Water Heater Installation
If you had to take a cold shower this morning or had to skip bathing your toddler because your heater broke, the Home Depot water heater aisle can look very tempting. We love Home Depot for a lot of home improvement projects, but you should always hire a professional to help you choose and install a new water heater.
The process of removing an old heater and installing a new one is quite involved. If you miss a step or make a mistake, you’ll still be stuck with cold showers. A professional plumber will get the job done right, the first time around. The installation will be leak-free, and your installer will even come back later for tune-ups if your heater needs it.
Tell us, has your water heater ever malfunctioned while you were mid-shower? Hopefully, it’ll never happen again but if it does, make us your first call.