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mm mm is offline
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Default OT -ish - Why shower runs cold first

On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 01:24:36 -0700 (PDT), Ron
wrote:

On Jun 7, 3:05*am, mm wrote:
On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 13:29:40 -0700 (PDT), Ron
wrote:



On Jun 4, 11:53*pm, mm wrote:
On Thu, 3 Jun 2010 16:25:47 -0700 (PDT), Ron
wrote:


On Jun 3, 7:00*pm, (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article , Ron wrote:


On Jun 3, 3:41=A0pm, willshak wrote:
Higgs Boson wrote the following: I've been wondering about this for year=
s. =A0When I turn the shower on,
the first water that comes out is
c-o-o-o-o-o-ld! =A0So I've learned to adjust the temp before stepping
in.


But WHY does cold come out first, when it's supposed to be mixed?


Inquiring minds...


Hypatia


How close is the shower to the water heater?
If the hot water hasn't been run in a while, the hot water stored in the
pipes will cool off. If the house is air conditioned, it will cool off mo=
re.


AC cools off water pipes??????


It cools off *everything* in the house.


Not enough to penetrate sheetrock and cool off water pipes. I guess if


Of course it does. It just takes longer to cool the inside of walls
than to the stuff in the middle of the room. *It also takes longer to
cool the middle of the room than to cool the AC ducts and the louvers
where the AC air comes out.


Then perhaps you can explain to me while during the summer (expect at
night) when I turn on the cold water I get warm and then HOT water? I
have to let it run for over a minute just to get cool water. My
neighbors that don't had direct shade on their roofs from trees have
the same problem. A friend of mine that had his house re-plumbed (so
his pipes are now in his attic) has the *same* problem.


We were talking about the temperature of the pipes in the walls. *Now
you're talking about the water in the pipes in the attic. *That water
can get very hot in the summer and it won't cool off to inside-wall
temperature in the few seconds it takes to get from the attic to the
faucet.


Ah, no...I'm still talking about the pipes in my walls, that run FROM
the attic.


Everyone else is distinguishing the water before any water is being
used, versus after its running.

You and several other people stated that the water in the pipes inside
the walls would be the same temperature as the living area if you have
AC. I questioned that, period. There were no parameters, and now it
seems that some of you want to add some.


There are implied parameters. If you run the water long enough, you'll
be using water from outside the house under ground. Were you talking
about that water once it it in your walls. That will be cooler yet.


But with enough time, it all gets cooled. *Under a day, I'll bet, and
then it stays that way until you let it get hotter in the house.


you have the capability of cooling your house to 60 degrees or so, you
might have a point. My home never gets below 78 degrees in the
summer.


I don't use AC at all but most of those who do keep it cooler than
that. *


Most of who? Are you saying that you know where most people keep their
thermostats set?


Okay, most of those in the north and many of those in other areas.

Anything below 78 degrees is just wasting
money....IMO


While I can tolerate 84 in the house pretty well with the windows open
and a fan blowing right at me**, and 78 is normally just fine, if the
windows are shut, that changes everything. *If it is so hot that I do
turn the AC on, it has to be 72 or lower. *I don't know why, but even
when I'm not paying attention, I notice sooner or later how
uncomfortable I am at higher temps. * In fact when I set it at 72, I'm
still rather uncomfortable and I figure, I'm spending so much money
already, let me spend a little more to get to 70 and actually be
comfortable. (Or let me just turn off the AC and open the window.)


You didn't answer my question.You said most people keep their AC below
78 degrees....now it's in the north and many of those in other areas?
HUH? Where is you data to back that up?


Where is your data to back up what you said?


**I see little point in ceiling fans


Don't know what this has to do with pipes in the wall, but ceiling
fans make a huge difference AFA cooling an area. You get a cool breeze
affect.


to each his own.

Why are you using your unusual house as an example that's
supposed to apply to every eles's? * *


What do you mean by "unusual"?


I mean most people cool their houses to 72 or even lower. * I wear
very few clothes when I'm home so that helps me handle 84, and I've
found at night if I sleep both naked and without any top sheet or
blanket, 84 feels like 74, and if it's not too humid, I can go a
little higher than that iirc. * *But I look at my next door neighbor's
window, to judge if my 2AM tv will bother him, and his windows are
always shut, with the AC on. * My new neighbor, a girl in her 20's had
her window open yesterday when it was pretty hot. *Maybe she was
raised poor and doesn't waste money.


What does that have to do with you calling my house "unusual"?


Read it again. I'm tired of this.

And there you go again with what "most people" have their thermostats
set at. You have NO clue where "most people" set their thermostats.


And everyone that has said I'm wrong

has not specified that different homes may be different. Seems to be
the "rule of thumb" that ALL homes with AC are going to have cooler
water coming out of the faucets.


When the water pipes are in the area of the house that is cooled,
including inside the walls below the top floor ceiling, but not
including the attic. Some heat must enter the 2nd floor walls straight
from the attic, but a 2x4 is probably a better insulator from the
heatthan a broad expanse of sheetrock insulates from the cooler rooms.


OK...the bottom line is, the water coming out of my faucets in the
summer, is not 78 degrees even if the interior of my home is at 78
degrees like so many of you claimed..

The only cool water coming from my sinks in the summer is from the
hoses underneath the sinks, and that last for about 2 seconds before
the water gets warm, and then scalding hot. Then it takes at least 1
minute before the water is cool enough to put your hands under.

I can''t even wash clothes in cold water.


Wait longer.

If you post again, you can have the last word.