Water Heater

Standard Suburban Water Heater T-stat is set to OPEN (stop heating process) at 130*F.
It will NOT CLOSE (call for reheat cycle) until water temp drops below 100*F

No demand.......tank can take a while to loose enough heat and IF that Faucet DW is first using in AM is far from water heater it will take a quite a bit of cool water before the WARM water from heater reaches faucet. And then t-stat calls for heating.

Before any water is used...measure water temp from T&P Relief Valve after heater has sat overnight.
CAUTION: Water could be HOT

IF water is 'cool' (less than 100*F) then time for new t-stat
If water is above 100*F..changing t-stat is NOT going to change anything

Not normal for a tank type WH to do that. Your thermostat has developed a lot of hysteresis as Mat above described.
Time to replace the stat.

Chris,

You say the WH is Suburban, but with no model...
If it is a demand heater, this is common. If it is not, then the heaters thermostat has developed a lot of hysteresis. This is not uncommon, but it usually takes a while. That control is not hard to replace.

And yes, a HW circulating pump can save you a lot of water.

Matt

I don't know.. sounds like a thermostat problem. Just so you know, a gas wh is VERY loud at 3am, so be kind to your neighbors.

Makes sense. Not using any water for a while, the tank itself will heat up and stay warm for a long time.

A hot water circulation pump will help. They install under a cabinet, push a button and in 30 seconds hot water at every tap.