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A manifesto on shower temperature control

benholmen.com

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Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control

#111

Post by _yb2s »

waste_monk wrote: post #71
fy20 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you car has an Eco or Power or Sport mode this is probably what it does. On my Toyota, Power mode makes the accelerator more sensitive and Eco mode makes it less sensitive (which is great for snow). Flooring it is the same, regardless of the mode.

You can't even rely on this, on my car the default behaviour is that the middle of the accelerator pedals range of motion is the "sweet spot", and in fact flooring it will trigger the hill climb assist and cause the automatic transmission to go down a gear.

Typically there is extra resistance at the downshift position, and you already have full throttle in the current gear before engaging it.

Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control

#112

Post by _yb2s »

MR4D wrote: post #23
AnthonBerg wrote: post #20

I have a kind of powerful dirt bike. People put “throttle cams” on them for this same reason. Usually you want small adjustments within the lower range of power. When you want the majority of power you usually want close to all of it. Throttle cams are basically an off-center circle. At lower throttle you’re pulling a smaller circle and the throttle moves less. Then when the throttle is opened up you’re pulling a big…

Now I want one of those for my car!

These exist for most modern cars, you can buy a plug in box that remaps the throttle curve.

Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control

#113

Post by bombela »

ars wrote: post #83
gorgoiler wrote: post #45

As a friendly heads up to anyone exploring this space — temperature control is a complex dynamic between many components, chiefly the mixing valve, any local thermostatic dampers in the valve (rarer, but definitely a feature of high end mixers), and the source of hot water itself . Mixer taps are not simply mixing hot water at temperature H and cold water at temperature C. The temperature H which your hot water sourc…

You are overcomplicating this whole thing. Just buy a thermostatic shower valve and have exact temperature control. They use a wax thermostat to precisely control the temperature. Do not get the more common, and less expensive, temperature-pressure valve. You can tell the difference because the bad kind has a single dial for both on-off and temperature control. It has no volume control. The better one has one dial fo…

Mine doesn't have degrees on it, but better than that, it can be adjusted such that the handle being in the neutral position (vertical in this case) is at whatever temperature you want. I set mine to 39°C which is what most people seem to enjoy. Turn it left gets you as cold as the cold supply. And then you can set a soft limit with a positive detente at some higher temp, which I have set to 42°C of course. So that you don't go overboard when turning right. And above that soft limit, you can also set the maximum temp, which I have set to 45°C. And the valve will shutoff if the temperature still manages to go above that.

Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control

#114

Post by aidenn0 »

scottlamb wrote: post #108
vl wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All thermostatic valves have cartridges that eventually wear off and need to be replaced. Cartridge is accessible from outside by removing the handle held by the side screw (handle can be stuck and hard to remove) and then unscrewing the cap. Remove the cartridge, look at the part number and buy the replacements at Amazon. Obviously cut off water to the shower first. Also handle has a small button on the bottom which…

I will check that out, thank you! We did have a plumber look at this valve while here for something else, and he neglected to mention that...

There are cases where the cartridges are no longer available; that happened to us.

Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control

#115

Post by bombela »

vl wrote: post #101
scottlamb wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Gröhe thermostatic valve which came with the house. It's somehow broken such that you can't get the water as hot as advertised unless the dishwasher is running (?). And it's installed behind tile, so we can't just get a plumber to come in and replace it; we have to also line up someone to re-tile the shower immediately afterward. We also have a pair of Gröhe sinks. We had to replace all four expensive, propr…

All thermostatic valves have cartridges that eventually wear off and need to be replaced. Cartridge is accessible from outside by removing the handle held by the side screw (handle can be stuck and hard to remove) and then unscrewing the cap. Remove the cartridge, look at the part number and buy the replacements at Amazon. Obviously cut off water to the shower first. Also handle has a small button on the bottom which…

Some even have integrated shutoff valves, so you can replace the cartridge without shutting off the water anywhere else! What a marvelous world we live in.

Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control

#116

Post by aidenn0 »

standardUser wrote: post #64

I'm obsessed with showers and also wonder why we are so spectacularly bad at making consistently good showerheads with consistently good pressure and temperature control. One issue the author overlooks is that we have minimal control over the temperature of the cold water, and this temperature fluctuates throughout the year (at least here in NY, not so much where I lived in SF). As a result, the range of the dial I u…

The water pipes to my shower go through an exterior west-facing wall. Mornings in the winter, the first half-gallon or so of water is basically the same temperature as the outside air-temperature. Evenings in summer, the first half-gallon can be painfully hot, even from the cold-water supply.

Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control

#117

Post by bluSCALE4 »

ars wrote: post #92
bluSCALE4 wrote: post #57

I'm actually installing a thermostatic valve today to go with a recirculating pump I have setup on an electric heat pump water heater. I'm going to be installing it exactly like this guy with an expansion tank. Does anyone see a problem with this layout? Apparently, his doesn't work. https://www.amazon.com/review/R3NQCKZCEQLLLC/ref=cm_cr_srp_d...

Get this and install by the heater: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08R1HKZ78/ or this: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B09V7MDZHF under the sink. There's a remote available also. By sure and carefully read the details - there is an "E" model, be sure and understand the difference and pick the right kind for your setup.

I have everything I need, I just need the position of the expansion tank confirmed.

Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control

#118

Post by capableweb »

amluto wrote: post #34
Nifty3929 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would depend on the temperature of your hot water feed, which is likely much lower. It’s like having a speedometer in your car that goes to 180 mph.

I was off by 6 degrees (looked lazily at axis labels, not at the actual data). But the OP actually measured the temperature. It says, right in the article: > The minimum temperature was 44.4°F (6.9°C) and the maximum temperature was 134.1°F (56.7°C). So yes, this shower violates the code.

> So yes, this shower violates the code.

Again, the shower is not the only one dictating how hot the water can get, the water heater does as well. Turning down the temperature on the water heater will make the max temperature of the shower also go down, vice-versa if you put up the temperature in the water heater.

Could be that they just run their water heater really warm, some people seem to do.

Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control

#119

Post by capableweb »

anigbrowl wrote: post #69

The US insists on using mixet valves wherever possible, while most other countries give you hot and cold knobs which you can adjust to taste.

Don't think this is a US-only thing, seems to vary even inside countries. Been to a lot of countries, and most showers have been without single knobs for hot/cold, but seen that too of course.

Re: A manifesto on shower temperature control

#120

Post by Macha »

josephg wrote: post #102
Macha wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is also the case for electric showers though, where the shower itself contains the heating element and heats its own water, rather than taking arbitrary feeds of hot and cold water.

The shower doesn't need an internal heating element. All you need is an electric control system, which dynamically monitors the temperature coming out of the shower head and constantly adjusts the mix toward a set temperature. I have a feeling these have existed for a long time in Japan.

It seems at least some of you could do with electric showers, since they have problems with showers needing time to heat up: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34634223
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