"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
news:hk%Gh.6262$Tf.5558@trndny03...

"mdo" wrote in message
oups.com...
I just bought a house, and the hot water tank was only 6 months old
when I moved in. We've only been in it a week, but it seems that if
two people have normal (5 - 10 min) showers in the morning, the hot
water runs out by the time the second person is half done. I know
noting about a hot water heater except how to change the temperature
setting, so am a little lost here. Does anyone have a comment or
suggestion about what may be going on, or what I can do before I have
to call a plumber? Thanks in advance.


Gas or electric? If it is electric one of the elements may be bad. It
would heat up during night from just one element, but as soon as you start
using the water it becomes diluted and cannot recover as fast with only
one element working. Even though fairly new, things do break and it may
be covered under the warranty.

[snip]

If you have electric hot water and the water is hot but turns cold sooner
than you think it should, the bottom element may have failed. If the water
doesn't get to the right temperature or takes a very long time to reheat
after being depleted, you may have a top element that has failed.
Regards --