Your water heater allows you to have hot water whenever the need arises. If you have dishes to do, you need hot water. If you need to shower, you have hot water. If you need to do laundry, you have hot water to allow you to do this as well. Without a hot water heater, it's back to boiling hot water for these things - who has the time to do that? You need your hot water heater to allow you to do these things. If your hot water heater has stopped working, you can try a few things to get it working again. Read on for helpful tips.

Check The Gas Valve

Make sure your gas valve isn't turned off. If the gas is turned off, you aren't going to get hot water, as there won't be a flame without a combustible. Check that the valve is turned on all the way, and not in the off position. If you smell gas, you could have a leak. Call your local gas company to have someone come out to inspect the gas line for leaks and get out of your house. If the gas valve is turned on, make sure you have a flame. If you have a flame, then you should have hot water. If you don't have hot water at all, read on.

Check The Thermostat

The thermostat may have been turned down. If it's turned down to a low temperature, your water isn't going to get that hot, it will only reach that specific temperature. Try adjusting the thermostat to see if this helps anything. If you have to turn it so that it's on the hottest setting, and after a few hours, you still don't have hot water, read on.

Clean The Tank

The water heater tank itself may be the cause of the problem. If your tank is clogged at the base with calcium and other minerals from your water, it can block the heat core at the base of the unit, which will cause you to not have hot water. You're going to need to clean out the tank by draining all of the water from inside and sucking out the minerals using a shop vacuum hose. When draining the water out, use a garden hose and drain it out of your home or into a floor drain, but be careful when doing so, as there could still be hot water inside the tank. Then attach a shop vacuum to the drain to suck out the minerals still stuck inside. 

If your hot water heater isn't working, and boiling water for all of your daily tasks doesn't sound appealing, then use the tips above to help you repair the problem. If you aren't successful in repairing your water heater, hire an appliance repair service for help.