does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

[ladydali]

I live in a 3 bedroom older home. Half the house, i.e. kitchen always has hot water,but the showers, both of which are located on the other side of the house have hot water sporadically, and with no discernable pattern. When they don't. A trick that mostly works is running the water for 5 minutes and trying again half an hour later. Please, anyone, whatt could this be?

 

[Chris]

I had that problem with my house and it turned out to be the water heater on it's way out. It worked ok after we would run it like you do because it kicked on the heater. You can always try flushing the heater out to get some crud out of it, mine was about 12 years old and had never been flushed so it was packed with debris. This may or may not be your problem but I am sure some others will be around soon with their advice.

 

[havasu]

Chris has offered you great advice. Are we speaking of a gas or electric water heater? How old is the unit? When is the last time it was flushed out?

If it is more than 8-10 years old, your sacrificial anode rod may be on its way out, which causes the cold and hot water to not blend properly. They can sometimes be replaced easily, but it would be like installing new tires on a car headed to a junk yard.