Why does my hot water stop when the sprinklers run?
Running an in-ground irrigation system can cause a massive pressure drop throughout the house, which temporarily halts hot water flow at faucets and showers until the sprinklers turn off. This sudden loss of pressure prevents normal water usage entirely during watering cycles and leaves homeowners wondering if they simply have to live with the issue.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Living with the issue and waiting a minute or two after the sprinklers turn off for hot water to return.
- 2Partially closing the main irrigation valve slightly to reduce the noise and pressure drop.
- 3unscrew the priming plug and fill with water
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I currently have no water at my house.”source ↗
“There is no hot water at any faucet or shower while the irrigation is running and it takes a minute or two to come on once the sprinklers have turned off”source ↗
“is there anything I can do about this or just live with it?”source ↗
“It says dry run”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Why is there no water pressure after changing a faucet?
- 4Why is only one tap losing hot water?
- 2Low hot water pressure at only one faucet
- 3Why does my impact sprinkler leave a muddy center and dry edges?
- 3Water leak from screw after flushing water heater
- 2Why is my apartment shower too hot and low pressure?