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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 y

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).

trynewideas 4y ago
This isn't always feasible depending on the location, age, and type of water heater, and how many things with different temperature needs are connected to the same water heater. A tankless water heater with a feeder pump, dedicated to bathroom use and with a bathroom-installed remote control, makes this trivial. It's probably also more efficient, easier to use, and (vs. thermostatic valves) about as easy and maybe also cheaper to implement than any fussing with valves. A 30-year-old tank heater in a basement that needs a wrench to adjust a temperature that won't meaningfully change in a 2nd-floor bathroom for another half-hour, and also has to serve a dishwasher and clothes washer that might also run at higher temperatures at the same time, can't swing this as easily, or at all.
Someone 4y ago
> you can change the top end by lowering the temperature of your hot water heater. We have ours set at 120 I’m not sure that’s a good idea. 120F is in the danger zone for Legionnaires' disease. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionnaires%27_disease#Prevention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionnaires%27_disease#Preven...: “Keep water temperature either above or below the 20–50 °C (68–122 °F) range in which the Legionella bacterium thrives.”
- adamj9431 4y ago
  Interesting. On the other hand, when bringing a newborn home from the hospital, the take-home literature instructs new parents to turn the water heater down to 120 F to prevent risk of scalding.
  - stdbrouw 4y ago
    I wouldn't worry about it. Almost every modern boiler will bump up the temperature to 60C / 140F once a week to prevent Legionnaire's, may even be a mandatory feature depending on where you live.
- exmadscientist 4y ago
  The "right" way to do this is a thermostatic mixing valve at the water heater output. This lets you keep the tank at 150°F (or whatever) but the output gets mixed down to 120°F (or whatever). It also gives you an effectively-larger tank which can be very useful in certain cases. Of course, you might say, why not put the thermostatic mixing valve at or in the shower, which also works pretty well!
- kps 4y ago
  > the 20–50 °C (68–122 °F) range That's clearly a case of conversion results being given unwarranted precision.

trynewideas 4y ago

This isn't always feasible depending on the location, age, and type of water heater, and how many things with different temperature needs are connected to the same water heater. A tankless water heater with a feeder pump, dedicated to bathroom use and with a bathroom-installed remote control, makes this trivial. It's probably also more efficient, easier to use, and (vs. thermostatic valves) about as easy and maybe also cheaper to implement than any fussing with valves. A 30-year-old tank heater in a basement that needs a wrench to adjust a temperature that won't meaningfully change in a 2nd-floor bathroom for another half-hour, and also has to serve a dishwasher and clothes washer that might also run at higher temperatures at the same time, can't swing this as easily, or at all.

Someone 4y ago

> you can change the top end by lowering the temperature of your hot water heater. We have ours set at 120 I’m not sure that’s a good idea. 120F is in the danger zone for Legionnaires' disease. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionnaires%27_disease#Prevention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionnaires%27_disease#Preven...: “Keep water temperature either above or below the 20–50 °C (68–122 °F) range in which the Legionella bacterium thrives.”

adamj9431 4y ago
Interesting. On the other hand, when bringing a newborn home from the hospital, the take-home literature instructs new parents to turn the water heater down to 120 F to prevent risk of scalding.
- stdbrouw 4y ago
  I wouldn't worry about it. Almost every modern boiler will bump up the temperature to 60C / 140F once a week to prevent Legionnaire's, may even be a mandatory feature depending on where you live.
exmadscientist 4y ago
The "right" way to do this is a thermostatic mixing valve at the water heater output. This lets you keep the tank at 150°F (or whatever) but the output gets mixed down to 120°F (or whatever). It also gives you an effectively-larger tank which can be very useful in certain cases. Of course, you might say, why not put the thermostatic mixing valve at or in the shower, which also works pretty well!
kps 4y ago
> the 20–50 °C (68–122 °F) range That's clearly a case of conversion results being given unwarranted precision.