Kelly's Korner - A Flirt with Disaster

Hey, All,

Well, I am on vacation this week and next but had to leave something for you all to chuckle over.

So, I get home the other night and my #2 son says, "Mom, we don't have any hot water."

W T ?!?!?!?!?  I had plenty of hot water for my shower that morning - omg, it's Christmas and I can't afford any extra bills - which of my techs can I call for help - AARRRGGGHHH!!!  All this is running through my head in pure panic mode but, because I am the epitome of cool (yeah, right!),  I go turn on the hot water in the tub - yup, nothing but cold water.  So I go into the laundry room where the hot water heater is - looks ok - nothing leaking or burning (electric heater and less that 5 years old).  Luckily, the breakers for the heater and the dryer are right on the wall beside the heater (note:  mark breakers for what they go to - it really makes life easier) so I flipped that.

Eeeh, not really hearing anything....wait!!  Working in this business has taught me a thing or two and even though W L May does not do much with water heaters - in the very back of my brain, I seem to remember that there is a reset button on heaters.  So I grab my handy dandy Phillips screwdriver and take off the top plate and voile!  There is a button!  And I push that button!  And I hear faint noises of the heater elements heating up! And I am dancing for joy!  But I need to wait a bit for the water to heat to see if it is working.

So I spend the next hour watching TV, crocheting and checking the clock every two seconds.  After an hour I go into the bathroom and turn the tub faucet on praying.....Yahoo!  The water is getting warm!  Happy dances all around and Mom has saved the day once again!  And taught my boys if it happens again to fix it themselves.

A note to all - if you run into a situation like this and the things I did don't work - STOP!  Call a plumber.  Especially if you have a gas heater - gas scares me and luckily only my furnace is gas and I have Patrick to help me with that.  But there may be other issues that need to be dealt with so call a professional.

Have a wonderful and warm Holiday!