A manifesto on shower temperature control
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A manifesto on shower temperature control
1–10 of 176 posts
Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control
#2I think the current ones are the way they are because the input temperature is not well controlled. I live in an old farmhouse where the cold water gets really cold in the winter and for years we've had a tankless water heater that has never worked that well but lately has gotten full of scales. We haven't tried descaling it because we're concerned that we'll kill it in the process of descaling it and won't try it unless we have a replacement lined up.
All of that means that the input temperatures are poorly controlled even when the heater is working.
The very large range of mixing ratios helps compensate for uncontrolled input temperatures. If the input temperature was better controlled (say with a thermostatic function) you might be able to calibrate the valves to a user-appropriate range, but barring that you'd need to put a thermostat right after the valve.
Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control
#3These devices exist. You just don't want to pay for them.
https://www.kohler.com/en/products/showers/shop-shower-trims...
What you have in your shower is a cheaper anti-scald valve that just prevents super huge spikes in water temperature when the input pressure changes (i.e. your wife flushes the toilet).
Like PaulHoule says, you need monitoring of input and output temps to do that. And that's technically possible, but it's complex and expensive.
Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control
#4I have one of these grohe thermostatic valves. You can set the temperature and then use a push button to turn the shower on. The temperature is always set correctly as the on/off is separate from the temperature control. A majority of the range of the dial is usable. We still use cold water for cleaning the shower, or when you want a cold shower. During the shower, I have it set to hot, then slowly turn up the heat. This uses about half the dial's range.
The big difference is the grohe costs $500 while a standard builder grader valve might be $50.
https://www.build.com/product/summary/1391570?uid=3279009&jm...
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Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control
#5I think the current ones are the way they are because the input temperature is not well controlled. I live in an old farmhouse where the cold water gets really cold in the winter and for years we've had a tankless water heater that has never worked that well but lately has gotten full of scales. We haven't tried descaling it because we're concerned that we'll kill it in the process of descaling it and won't try it un…
It's obviously your risk not mine, but I wouldn't be particularly concerned with descaling a tankless with vinegar causing a problem. I'd be more concerned with the uneven heat transfer causing damage (by overheating the metal that doesn't have adequate cooling from the water [that you're intending to heat]) than I would from the descaling causing damage (or more precisely, revealing existing damage).
Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control
#6These devices exist. You just don't want to pay for them. https://www.kohler.com/en/products/showers/shop-shower-trims... What you have in your shower is a cheaper anti-scald valve that just prevents super huge spikes in water temperature when the input pressure changes (i.e. your wife flushes the toilet). Like PaulHoule says, you need monitoring of input and output temps to do that. And that's technically possible,…
Huh? Regular thermostatic valves do not provide perfect regulation but they do in fact provide a fairly stable output temperature regardless of cold and hot water temperature, by entirely mechanical means. I have a cheap IKEA shower control and output temp is stable for the full duration of my shower even though cold nor hot water supply is stable due to a shower drain heat recovery unit.
The article is mainly about wanting the regulation to be between 35-45C instead of 15-55C.
Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control
#7I have one of these grohe thermostatic valves. You can set the temperature and then use a push button to turn the shower on. The temperature is always set correctly as the on/off is separate from the temperature control. A majority of the range of the dial is usable. We still use cold water for cleaning the shower, or when you want a cold shower. During the shower, I have it set to hot, then slowly turn up the heat.…
I also have grohe thermostatic valve and enjoy it a lot! Worth every $ spent.
Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control
#8> † The author acknowledges the recent trend of "cold showers" and considers them (a) a trend, (b) undignified, (c) a waste of some life-sustaining solidary time.
Hear, hear!
Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control
#9These devices exist. You just don't want to pay for them. https://www.kohler.com/en/products/showers/shop-shower-trims... What you have in your shower is a cheaper anti-scald valve that just prevents super huge spikes in water temperature when the input pressure changes (i.e. your wife flushes the toilet). Like PaulHoule says, you need monitoring of input and output temps to do that. And that's technically possible,…
Huh? Regular thermostatic valves do not provide perfect regulation but they do in fact provide a fairly stable output temperature regardless of cold and hot water temperature, by entirely mechanical means. I have a cheap IKEA shower control and output temp is stable for the full duration of my shower even though cold nor hot water supply is stable due to a shower drain heat recovery unit. The article is mainly about…
you can change the top end by lowering the temperature of your hot water heater. We have ours set at 120. Using a lower hot water temperature is a way to give you a wider range of useful temperatures.
In texas during the summer we often take showers with no hot water (or very little hot water).
Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control
#10I think the current ones are the way they are because the input temperature is not well controlled. I live in an old farmhouse where the cold water gets really cold in the winter and for years we've had a tankless water heater that has never worked that well but lately has gotten full of scales. We haven't tried descaling it because we're concerned that we'll kill it in the process of descaling it and won't try it un…
Or to put it another way: Spolsky said that users don't use 90% of the features in any app; unfortunately, they each don't use a different 90%. You don't use 90% of the shower faucet ratio range; unfortunately, each house doesn't use a different 90% of the ratio range...