Living without hot water can be a problem, especially if you have a large family expecting a warm shower in the morning. Turning your hot water faucet and finding only a cold stream of water can be disheartening, and you might be ready to pick up the phone and make an emergency call to your plumber. Fortunately, not every hot water failure requires immediate action.

Before scheduling a last-minute plumbing visit, consider these three options to check your hot water and potentially get it running again without expert help.

1. Check For Power and Fuel 

Modern waters typically always require electricity. Even if you have a gas-fired heater, it likely needs an electrical connection for its control circuitry and igniter. If your hot water isn't working, always start by confirming that the heater has power and isn't tripping your circuit breaker. You should also check that the gas valve is open for gas-powered water heaters.

Note that you shouldn't continue to use a water heater that's repeatedly tripping a circuit breaker. This behavior can indicate a short-circuit or ground fault, and the circuit breaker is protecting your home and wiring from damage. In these cases, you'll want to contact a plumber right away to determine the underlying cause of the issue.

2. Look for Error Codes

Most conventional water tank-style heaters don't have control boards with error codes, but many tankless water heaters do. If you have this type of unit, check to see if there's a blinking light on the control board and consult with your owner's manual to look for an explanation. The error may alert you to a simple maintenance problem you can fix yourself in some cases.

However, you shouldn't attempt to conduct any substantial repairs on a tankless water heater yourself. These appliances are relatively sophisticated, especially when compared to conventional-style water heaters, and it's best to leave any repairs to a plumber. If you need hot water right away, it's probably time to call in a professional for an emergency visit.

3. Check Other Fixtures

It's possible to lose hot water from only a single fixture in your home. This situation typically occurs for sinks or showers that use a single handle and mixing valve design. When you turn the handle, a cartridge allows a certain amount of hot and cold water to enter the faucet, producing the desired water temperature.

These cartridges can fail, allowing too much cold water to blend with the hot water. Replacing one of these cartridges is relatively simple and may not be a true emergency if you still have hot water elsewhere in your house. However, an emergency plumbing visit is probably in order if you have no hot water throughout the house and none of the above simple fixes resolve your problem.

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