New Hot Water Heater - plumber + gas can't fix

[casp]

Looking for some vendor recommendations or general advice because I’m at my wits end.

Our original hot water heater went out a little over a month ago. We bought a hot water heater two weeks ago that was faulty so we had another new one professionally installed. As of this morning our (second) new hot water was still 97 after heating up for 12. The hot water heater is an American Water heater.

Pilot light is light, water is in the tank, and it's set to the B option.

The plumber's advice was to call our gas company to see if we had enough pressure coming into the house. I then checked and our gas usage is up 1000%. I called black hills to report a suspected leak since our usage went up so much (in a summer month). They checked the pressure into the house, the gas line, AND meter and gave the all clear. The found no leaks, or any reason as to why our usage is going up.

So we’re currently back to square one on next steps to have hot water again. If anyone has literally any solution other than burning the house down and starting over, please comment below.

 

[breplum]

Basics, which gas company might have done but need facts
1. check pressure at water heater with a manometer
2. check gas pressure at other gas appliance if appropriate and watch for pressure drop in specs. actual specs for drop for natural gas, and is different with propane.
3. cap off all appliances, isolate meter with cap on main and pressure test gas line with gas pressure gauge...

 

[havasu]

Do you have a sediment trap installed on your gas line?
I agree, unless you have dirty gas and your orifices are becoming clogged, you'll need to verify with a manometer.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Looking for some vendor recommendations or general advice because I’m at my wits end.

Our original hot water heater went out a little over a month ago. We bought a hot water heater two weeks ago that was faulty so we had another new one professionally installed. As of this morning our (second) new hot water was still 97 after heating up for 12. The hot water heater is an American Water heater.

Pilot light is light, water is in the tank, and it's set to the B option.

The plumber's advice was to call our gas company to see if we had enough pressure coming into the house. I then checked and our gas usage is up 1000%. I called black hills to report a suspected leak since our usage went up so much (in a summer month). They checked the pressure into the house, the gas line, AND meter and gave the all clear. The found no leaks, or any reason as to why our usage is going up.

So we’re currently back to square one on next steps to have hot water again. If anyone has literally any solution other than burning the house down and starting over, please comment below.

You might have a hot water leak some place. If you have a slab foundation it could be under the slab.

That would explain the heater running constantly/high gas bill but still no hot water.

https://tenor.com/bdkRD.gif

 

[GReynolds929]

3 water heaters and the problem follows, probably not the water heater. Abnormally high gas usage tell me that the water heater is constantly on trying to heat the water but can't because there's a leak and cold water keeps coming into the tank. With no water running in the house turn of the cold water inlet to the water heater, wait 30 seconds to a minute and turn it back on. If water rushes in to the water heater you have a leak somewhere in your hot water piping. What was the issue that the defective water heater had? Are you on a slab or crawlspace?

 

[MicEd69]

Pilot light is light, water is in the tank, and it's set to the B option.

You did not say why the first replacement water heater was faulty, nor how your initial water heater failed. But I will assume neither of those failed water heaters are related to your existing problem.

It is implied from your statements "As of this morning our (second) new hot water was still 97 (degrees) after heating up for 12 (hours)" and "our gas usage is up 1000%" that the new water heater has been continuously firing for 12 hours. If that is the case, for a water leak to be the problem it would have to be pretty large, and with all you've gone through I would expect you would have already noticed that.

But, if the water heater is not continuously firing, and you have confirmed that there is adequate gas supply pressure and volume, then your issue appears to be with the water heater itself. Either controls that are in place for safety, or controls that are malfunctioning, would appear to be the problem. I would assume that the water heater is properly vented as it was professionally installed and perhaps the gas company also had a look at it when they confirmed the gas supply was adequate. I would call American Water Heater with specific information like the actual gas pressure to the unit, the size of the gas line, the operation (or lack thereof) that you are experiencing. As I assume you had a gas water heater before, does this happen to be a larger water heater? If so, you might want to check that you still have adequate combustion air going to the water heater.