Timeline for Why do showers have "hot" and "cold" knobs rather than "temperature" and "quantity" knobs?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
20 events
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| Aug 5, 2015 at 15:22 | comment | added | supercat | @StijndeWitt: For places where it's necessary to flush cold water from the hot line before hot water becomes available, I would think a device that severely curtailed output flow above a certain temperature would be far less wasteful than one which enforces a minimum hot/cold mix; indeed, such a device could yield optimal water usage if the user turned on full hot, waited for the shower to cut output to a trickle, then dialed in a suitable temperature and waited for the output to come back on and got in. | |
| Jul 22, 2015 at 22:59 | comment | added | Stijn de Witt | @jamesqf The old hot/cold controls are really a safety hazard. Young children turn the wrong knob and get burnt. To give a wide array of mixing possibilities, the hot water coming out when only turning the hot knob could be very hot. | |
| Apr 8, 2015 at 11:35 | comment | added | MSalters | @jamesqf: There are unfortunately two safety issues in direct contradiction. Legionella (Legionnaires' disease) is prevented by setting the hot water temperature well above the skin-safe level. | |
| Apr 7, 2015 at 20:03 | comment | added | jamesqf | @Lefty: Sure, but in a lot of cases, whether a particular change is an improvement or a (what's a word for the opposite of improvement?) is purely subjective. As to being safer, surely most sensible people already have their hot water heating system's thermostat set to a safe temperature. | |
| Apr 7, 2015 at 17:17 | review | Low quality posts | |||
| Apr 7, 2015 at 18:44 | |||||
| Apr 7, 2015 at 6:20 | comment | added | Lefty | @jamesqf I thought the whole point of this site was to discuss ways of improving the user experience. You could describe almost everything on here as "unnecessary" if you so choose. And thermostatic valves ARE safer because you can't go above a safe temperature without using an override facility. Also, as already pointed out, they aren't significantly more expensive - equivalent to $1 per year. I will update my answer with the water-saving potential later. | |
| Apr 7, 2015 at 4:03 | comment | added | jamesqf | @Lefty: That's just the point. Those complicated, expensive shower controls are neither easier nor inherently safer, they're just a way to get people to spend more money on unnecessary glitz. | |
| Apr 6, 2015 at 20:35 | comment | added | Lefty | @jamesqf that's no problem, you press the "minus" button a few times and you get a new temperature! Or you programming P1 as your standard, P2 as your "after ski" and P3 as "hot summer day"! It's wonderful! | |
| Apr 6, 2015 at 20:29 | comment | added | Lefty | @hownowbrowncow Quite. The average American earns twice the average European but quibbles about an extra $20 to get an easier, safer shower valve that will last for 20 years. That doesn't make any sense to me. | |
| Apr 6, 2015 at 19:24 | comment | added | jamesqf | @Lefty: Re digital controls programmed to each user's preference, how many people always want their shower at the same temperature? Sometimes - say when I've spent the day cross-country skiing in a snowstorm - I may want it as hot as I can stand, while in the heat of summer I want it cool to almost cold. | |
| Apr 6, 2015 at 15:41 | comment | added | hownowbrowncow | @Lefty daily reminder that the gdp/capita in the EU is 27,300. The gdp/capita for the US is 53,042. Yuropoors confirmed for closer to nth world (where n > 1) by the year! | |
| Apr 6, 2015 at 7:40 | comment | added | Lefty | @DavidRicherby thank you. I've never been to the US myself so have nothing to go on except people on here saying hot/cold is normal and also the best type of shower! I find it hard to reconcile all this tbh. | |
| Apr 5, 2015 at 22:53 | comment | added | David Richerby | "Why do Americans persist in using hot/cold showers?" They don't, at least in my experience. I've taken showers in at least fourteen states and I don't recall ever seeing separate hot and cold controls. | |
| Apr 5, 2015 at 20:17 | comment | added | Lefty | @jamesqf I've clarified a little to emphasise that my £600 is not the norm. The price mentioned on the link is the price that no one pays - discount is standard and my plumber got mine for around £550 but I couldn't remember the exact price. | |
| Apr 5, 2015 at 20:11 | history | edited | Lefty | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 5, 2015 at 17:34 | comment | added | jamesqf | At today's exchange rate, £600 = $895.20. (But your link lists it at £739 = $1102.59.) May I politely suggest that some people might just have too much money? Or at least, used to have too much before they paid the plumber for the fancy shower :-) By contrast, I can go my local Home Depot and choose from a number of 2-knob versions under $50: homedepot.com/b/… IMHO they're much easier to use, too. | |
| Apr 5, 2015 at 9:36 | history | edited | Lefty | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 5, 2015 at 9:12 | history | edited | Lefty | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 5, 2015 at 9:06 | review | First posts | |||
| Apr 5, 2015 at 13:17 | |||||
| Apr 5, 2015 at 9:06 | history | answered | Lefty | CC BY-SA 3.0 |