How Lawyers Made me Run Wet and Naked to My Garage

[HFWR]

It's a Rinnai tankless. It states in the manual that it will automatically reset to a lower temp after a power outage. It's cold in the bathroom because it's farthest from the wood stove, and I can't justify heating up for the few minutes I'm not in the shower. And let's see, was there some other issue that was mentioned? I forget.

I'm pretty cheap, er, uh, frugal, Al, but when it involves cold, wet, and naked, I run a small heater in the room while showering...

And, btw, this thread is useless without pics...

 

[TromboneAl]

OK, you may be sorta right. As far as I can tell, after large number of scalding injuries water heater manufacturers reduced their preset temps to 120 degrees.What is the actual temperature of the water coming out of the faucet? Or is the preset less than 120?

After a power outage it resets to 108 degrees. I usually have it set to the maximum of 120 degrees. The max is 120 instead of 135 because the installer saved himself some money by installing a bathroom controller rather than a main controller. I'd have to spend about $130 to get a new controller.

120 degrees works OK. With the low flow showerhead, the temp in the shower is 111 degrees. My theory is that the lower flow keeps the unit from running full tilt, but it doesn't make sense. If I turn on another faucet, the water gets hotter in the shower.

But that's hot enough for me, and too hot for Lena. The kitchen faucet gets the full 120. I'd prefer to run the dishwasher at 130, so someday I may get a new controller.

T-Al, your threads, both in title as well as content, stimulate the imagination and generate an imagery I find troubling like no other on this forum...

You and me both.

 

[toofrugalformycat]

I look at maybe one in fifty threads, but your title pulled me into this one. Thanks for the warning. If I switch to a tankless, I'll look out for this problem.
BTW the lawyers would want you to walk carefully, not run, and be fully robed in order to avoid lawsuits for overexposure.

 

[Nords]

The kitchen faucet gets the full 120. I'd prefer to run the dishwasher at 130, so someday I may get a new controller.

Unless the dishwasher is you & Lena, your appliance may already have a heater installed in it to get the water up to temp.

But of course that uses electricity instead of gas and might drive up the cost a tad.

Our solar water tank spends most of the year between 140-155 degrees, and I have a mixing valve limiting the house hot water to ~138 degrees. Despite legions of lawyers alert for my [-]liability[/-] safety, somehow we've managed to raise a family and host plenty of guests over the last decade without anyone parboiling themselves.

 

[Martha]

After a power outage it resets to 108 degrees. I usually have it set to the maximum of 120 degrees. The max is 120 instead of 135 because the installer saved himself some money by installing a bathroom controller rather than a main controller. I'd have to spend about $130 to get a new controller.

Ah. An engineering problem not a legal problem. Would bringing up the maximum to 135 bring up reset to 123?

 

[ERD50]

If I turn on another faucet, the water gets hotter in the shower.

Ahh, another reason for me to not get a tankless heater. One of the greatest things ever about my painful bathroom remodeling was getting the 'new' pressure regulated valves in the showers. Finally, no hot/cold surges from others running a faucet, doing dishes, flushing a toilet. What relief! I wouldn't give that up for, heck, I dunno, I just wouldn't.

-ERD50

 

[Moemg]

After a power outage it resets to 108 degrees. I usually have it set to the maximum of 120 degrees. The max is 120 instead of 135 because the installer saved himself some money by installing a bathroom controller rather than a main controller. I'd have to spend about $130 to get a new controller.

.

The truth comes out ! Pay the $130 or continue to run naked !

 

[haha]

The truth comes out ! Pay the $130 or continue to run naked !

Perhaps he might miss this opportunity?

Ha

 

[travelover]

Can you plug the controller into an old UPS? I'm assuming it is a gas heater.

A UPS might not provide enough electrical power for a shower.

 

[W2R]

Hopefully when you see the clocks blinking and you know you have had an interruption in power, you routinely reset the hot water heater temperature along with the time displayed by your clocks. (If your clocks don't blink at every power outage, buy the cheapest digital clock you can find and it will gladly oblige.)

We'd hate for Lena to see you running and frolicking about the house and garage all soapy, wet, naked, and slippery like that. She might get ideas.

 

[East Texas]

My guess is that if both the water and the garage are cold he won't be perceived as much of a threat (sorry T-al...)

We have a tankless Rheem with the remote control mounted on a wall outside one of the bathrooms. One of the challenges of living out in the country is regular brownouts / power outages. It takes about 30 seconds for the generator to come on when a power outage occurs. We've never had issues with the thermostat resetting. The remote control does have a battery in it. We've had this tankless water heater for a couple of years and have been pleased with it.

 

[Westernskies]

The remote control does have a battery in it.

...not if you're practicing extreme LBYM.

 

[East Texas]

...not if you're practicing extreme LBYM.

I want to go on record that true blood Texicans are not opposed to running butt-nekid in just about any situation and any temperature. We are a hardy breed.

 

[Westernskies]

I want to go on record that true blood Texicans are not opposed to running butt-nekid in just about any situation and any temperature. We are a hardy breed.

OK, then I'll go on record by quoting FinanceDude:

"This thread is USELESS without pictures"

Game on....

 

[segfault]

108 degrees should feel plenty warm for a shower.

If you have a one-handle temperature control on your shower, there is a stop that is usually adjusted to prevent you from getting 100% hot water. On my Delta faucets, it's a plastic ring that you can move around. On the Kohlers I've seen, I think it's adjusted with an allen wrench. Might be worth looking into...

I set mine to allow full hot when I moved into this house, since I have no small children, keep the electric water heater around 120-125 degrees, but need full flow hot water towards the end of my shower if it's cold outside.

 

[rescueme]

...Texicans are not opposed to running butt-nekid in just about any situation and any temperature.

Unless you live in West Texas (look out for the cactus)...

 

[East Texas]

OK, then I'll go on record by quoting FinanceDude:

"This thread is USELESS without pictures"

Game on....

LOL.... can't tell if this thread is venturing into voyeurism or envy. I must say this is one witty little group (that can be the mantra while running butt-nekid through the cold house)......

 

[NW-Bound]

In the early 70's, there was once a rash of streaking incidences. I read about this phenomenon, and I was not even in this country then. Have not heard much about this recently.

So, I looked up Wikipedia, and this is what I found.

On 5 July 1799, a Friday evening at 7 o'clock, a naked man was arrested at the Mansion House, London, and sent to the Poultry Compter. He confirmed that he had accepted a wager of 10 guineas (equal to £735 today) to run naked from Cornhill to Cheapside.

The first recorded incident of streaking by a college student in the United States occurred in 1804 at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) when senior George William Crump was arrested for running nude through Lexington, Virginia, where the university is located. Robert E. Lee later sanctioned streaking as a rite of passage for young Washington and Lee gentlemen. Crump was suspended for the academic session, but later went on to become a U.S. Congressman and Ambassador to Chile.

Streaking seems to have been well-established on some college campuses by the mid-1960s.

Streaking is an essentially Anglo-Saxon phenomenon, absent in other cultures.

Time magazine, in December 1973, called streaking "a growing Los Angeles-area fad" that was "catching on among college students and other groups." A letter writer responded, "Let it be known that streakers have plagued the campus police at Notre Dame for the past decade", pointing out that a group of University of Notre Dame students sponsored a "Streakers' Olympics" in 1972.​

 

[East Texas]

Naked Quad Run - Office of the President - Tufts University

The Associated Press: Tufts president ends December naked student run

 

[Martha]

When I was in college in maybe 1973 a group of about 50 young men streaked by the women's dorm where I lived. We crowded to the windows to watch.

 

[NW-Bound]

We crowded to the windows to watch.

As you are self-admittedly of small stature, I'd like to think you got front row.

 

[TromboneAl]

Unless the dishwasher is you & Lena, your appliance may already have a heater installed in it to get the water up to temp.

But of course that uses electricity instead of gas and might drive up the cost a tad.

Yes, it has that but we don't use it in order to save money. Also, it takes a lot longer to run when it heats the water, and it keeps making noise the entire time.

Can you plug the controller into an old UPS? I'm assuming it is a gas heater.

A UPS might not provide enough electrical power for a shower.

Yes, exactly correct, and we've done that when the power is out. It only draws 4 watts of electricity. I already have the TIVO and the modem and router on UPSs, and that's helpful for those 4 second outages. Next time I see one at a garage sale I'll get it for the water heater.

Would bringing up the maximum to 135 bring up reset to 123?

I don't think so, I read that it's a safety thing.

108 degrees should feel plenty warm for a shower.

Yes, but it's lower at the shower head, possibly because it's low flow. But that gives me an idea. Next time, maybe I'll just turn on a faucet instead of running around.

If you have a one-handle temperature control on your shower, there is a stop that is usually adjusted to prevent you from getting 100% hot water.

Yes, I've already adjusted that to maximum.

-------------

We have to train ourselves to not think "Yay, the power's back on" but instead "Yay, the power's on, let's reset the water heater."

 

[toofrugalformycat]

When I was living in a college dorm in the early 70s, not only did some naked male students run down the street in front of the dorm, it was after they rappelled down the side of the multi-story dorm. Ouch, that climbing harness must have hurt!
Luckily, it was a co-ed dorm, so the self-selection process of females who lived in said dorm made the streaking somewhat less shocking for us.
I saw the running, only read about the rappelling afterwards.
At the time I was puzzled, but now I know it was all about dysfunctional water heaters and lawyers. The things you learn in this forum!

 

[TromboneAl]

Unless the dishwasher is you & Lena, your appliance may already have a heater installed in it to get the water up to temp.

But of course that uses electricity instead of gas and might drive up the cost a tad.

Yes, it has that but we don't use it in order to save money. Also, it takes a lot longer to run when it heats the water, and it keeps making noise the entire time.

I wanted to compare energy use with and without the water heat, but there's no place to plug in my kill-a-watt meter. But some research suggests that it would be worth the small extra expense (a few cents/load) to run it with the water heat on.

I've noticed that the dishwasher heats the water during the rinse cycle, which doesn't seem necessary.

 

[Nords]

I wanted to compare energy use with and without the water heat, but there's no place to plug in my kill-a-watt meter. But some research suggests that it would be worth the small extra expense (a few cents/load) to run it with the water heat on.
I've noticed that the dishwasher heats the water during the rinse cycle, which doesn't seem necessary.

I think a builder would hesitate to spend $2 on a dishwasher receptacle, especially if the dishwasher could spring a leak and spray water into the box. Of course that doesn't explain why washing machines have to plug into receptacles.

I'm almost positive that the dishwasher's rinse water is heated to keep more of the water's minerals in solution instead of letting them precipitate out onto the glassware.

I've used my Kill-A-Watt on every plugged-in device in our house, including vacuum cleaners and aquarium air pumps. What I need now is a good 240v Kill-A-Watt (for the clothes dryer). I'd also be happy with a data-recording Fluke for all the hardwired equipment like ceiling fans and kitchen ovens... I know that I could figure these numbers out one at a time from the house's electric meter, but many of them are run intermittently over weeks or even months.