There is no feeling MORE frustrating in the world than waking up, going into the shower, and there being no hot water. The fury this situation can bring is prodigious. More importantly, if you are in an apartment, you aren’t paying to take cold showers, you are paying to take HOT showers whenever you want!
So, what do you do if you wake up one day and find out you don’t have any hot water in your apartment? What are the causes? Are there any quick fixes that can get you out of the cold water and back into the hot water?
I am going to walk you through these questions and some things you can do to not only get your hot water heater fixed as quickly as possible but temporary remedies as well.
What To Do If Your Apartment Doesn’t Have Hot Water
There is a list of reasons of why you aren’t getting hot water, but the first step is the most important and should be done each time, every time.
Immediately tell your landlord or maintenance guy that you don’t have any hot water.
This allows your landlord or manager to do something about the issue in the soonest timeframe possible. This is the very FIRST thing to do, and if it is a serious problem that is going to require professional help or potentially a full replacement, then getting on the list sooner rather than later can mean the difference in days for the plumbers.
Ordering and replacing a hot water heater usually isn’t an instantaneous thing. Once the plumber has identified that the problem is indeed the water heater and it needs to be completely replaced, they have to contact THEIR plumbing supply houses to see if they have a replacement in stock. If they don’t, ordering can easily take days, and if you have ever moved a water heater, you know these things aren’t filled with helium!
There are a variety of reasons that your water heater or shared water heater could have gone out. Rust is surprisingly one of the most common causes for water heater failure, as is incorrect water pressure, broken thermostats, mineral build-up, or just old age.
One thing you need to know is DON’T try to go fix the problem yourself. Even if you have the knowledge, there are several really good reasons NOT to go try and fix it.
First, unless you are the maintenance guy, it’s not your job, nor your responsibility. Call them, inform them of the problem and they will come to take a look at it for you.
Secondly, if you mess with anything on the water heater, everything from the warranty on the water heater to the previous work done by plumbers, to the owner’s insurance policy covering a problem can all be wiped out if a “normal” person comes and messes with it. EVEN if you know what you are doing. If something goes wrong, it’s always best to have a licensed and bonded provider doing the work for the sake of everyone.
I’m a landlord and I’m saying this. You aren’t paying your landlord to fix their problems for them. That’s what part of your rent money goes towards. Simply call them and they will take care of the rest for you.
What To Do If Your Apartment Has Luke-Warm Water
Lukewarm water often means that the thermostat isn’t turned up as high as it needs to be on the water heater your building is using. A simple call to your maintenance guy can help resolve this.
While lukewarm isn’t the end of the world, it isn’t HOT water either. Additionally, lukewarm water doesn’t get the job done with the dishes and clothes, depending on how you wash them. But that is all beside the point. The fact of the matter is you are paying for hot water, you should be getting hot water.
Most times, several apartments will share a hot water heater with each other. If many people are all showering or using water at the same time, the water heater may not be able to keep up with the demand the tenants are giving.
This is a common problem, one that people with large families deal with on an everyday basis no matter where they live. The fact of the matter is there is only as much hot water as there is. It may SEEM like it comes out of the magic faucet and showerheads, but all that warm water has to come from somewhere.
When there is an extra-high demand on the water heater, the water will turn lukewarm, as it will for everyone else connected to that water heater, until it has a chance to catch up.
If the problem persists, more than likely your apartment complex doesn’t have a water heater big enough or efficient enough to handle the demand. Talking about this with your landlord is the way to go here.
Finally, realize that you can help yourself by helping your landlord fix the issue. Ask them if you can move to another apartment inside the same complex. This will remove some demand from the water heater, allow other tenants to not have as much lukewarm water, your landlord keeps all his tenants, and you get to move to a new apartment.
That solution can be a Win-Win for everyone. If you want to know how to talk to your landlord about this, check out the article I wrote on that here.
How Long Can Apartments Go Without Hot Water?
Fixing a hot water heater can take several days and up to a week or more depending on supply availability and the availability of the plumbers to install a new one.
All leases have a “Warrant of Habitability” clause in them, whether they are written out explicitly in the lease agreement or implied. All states in the United States recognize that Habitability is Implied in the contract whether it is stated there or not.
This means that the owner MUST provide you with an apartment that has the basic amenities, such as heat, running water, no physical hazards, etc.
Because there is uncertainty in the world, the law leaves some flexibility for landlords to get something like this fixed. This time period is usually described as a “reasonable amount of time”.
What that means is your landlord needs to fix the problem fairly immediately, but if they don’t have a replacement water heater or parts in stock and on hand, or if the plumber can’t come over for several days to fix it, there is room there to work.
This is why the time period is called “reasonable” and not “Immediate”. A broken pipe or fire in your apartment would be “immediate”, but no hot water is something people CAN live with for a few days while the problem is being fixed. It’s not ideal, but nobody is going to die because the problem ended up being fixed on Thursday instead of Wednesday.
Is No Hot Water In My Apartment Classified As An Emergency?
No. Not having hot water, while annoying, is not classified as an emergency a landlord must fix at any price during whatever time of day it happens. As long as they fix it in a “reasonable amount of time” that is sufficient and fulfills local and state requirements.
It may FEEL like an emergency, but it isn’t something that you can pressure your landlord to fix at 300AM on a Sunday morning at quintuple the cost for labor and materials. While yes, it sucks, the quickest way to get the ball rolling on the problem is to call your landlord or maintenance guy. If they can’t do something to rectify it immediately, then calling them is the quickest way for THEM to get it fixed as well.
Now, your landlord should get it fixed within that reasonable time period, that is what is implied in the warrant of habitability. And virtually every state statute and city ordinance is going to insist that the tenants all have hot water.
So, if you are going through your first 24 or 48 hours with no hot water, this is all in the general timeframe of getting the pieces in place, both men and materials, to get the job done.
If you are on your 3rd WEEK of no hot water, THAT’S the time to bring the issue to the attention of your landlord again and ask, at the very least, to be moved to a different apartment so you can have hot water.
When this issue has happened at my apartment complex, I have done one of two things. The first is to put the affected tenants in a hotel for the weekend or a day or two while it is being fixed. That’s if I know the plumber is confident he can get it fixed within that time frame. If it’s more than a few days, then I offer to move tenants to another unit, when available, and then simply flip those units to rent to someone else.
Usually, there is a solution in the cards somewhere, it’s just about figuring out how to work the problem and make everyone as happy as can be during the issue.
How To Get Clean If You Don’t Have Hot Water
If you are already stuck in a situation where you don’t have hot water already, that doesn’t mean that life has to shut down. You STILL need to clear yourself, your dishes, your laundry, etc.
Let’s see if we can give you a short-term solution to this problem.
If you don’t have any hot water, you need to be able to heat the water using unconventional means, such as the stove, etc.
There ARE other ways that you can heat up some hot water, that doesn’t mean that you are going to be able to get that hot water out of the faucet or showerhead instantaneously.
First off, try using your stove to heat up several pans of hot water. You should be able to use your stove as it will be gas or electricity, which should still be working that you can use to heat your water up.
Once you can heat up some water in these pans, take them into your bathroom and use the hot water to wash up and stay clean. Now, the water isn’t going to come out of your shower faucet like you are used to for a couple of days, but this should be able to get you through.
Make sure you have a good amount of heated water, then take it in your bathroom and use it to bathe and clean yourself as best you can. Do the same thing with your dishwater, which should be a little easier, as you can dump some of the hot water straight into your dishwasher after it has started. This will help your dishwater clean much better than just using cold water.
As far as your laundry goes, considering the amount of water and energy that it takes to wash, rinse, and then dry, it may be better in the short term to save the hot water that you CAN make during this time to make it through a day or two without hot water.
Get My Hot Water Heater Fixed Fast
The fasted way to get your hot water fixed is to make an immediate call to your landlord or manager, let them know of the issue, and then let them take care of the problem.
Contacting your landlord or maintenance guy is going to be the QUICKEST FIX you are going to find. They are going to be the people that are going to expedite getting your hot water running again like they were before.
There is no reason to suffer or complain for weeks on end unless you are complaining to the right people. Being in touch with the right people WILL expedite getting your water heater fixed.
Water heaters are something that goes out about once every 20 years, but when it happens, the landlord needs to know as quickly as humanly possible. This is the way by which you will be able to get your hot water fixed in the quickest way possible.
Talk to them first and go from there.
You should have hot water in your apartment. The hot water should always be there, if it is not, then it is up to you to talk to your landlord or maintenance guy to have them come over and take a good look at the issue to see what they can do about it.
But if you want to expedite this process of fixing your water heater along to the fastest course possible, it boils down to… Calling Your Landlord. That is the best piece of advice I can give you.
