How Lawyers Made me Run Wet and Naked to My Garage

[TromboneAl]

After a long bike ride in the cold, drizzly weather, I jump into the shower in a bathroom that is about 62 degrees. I jump into the shower, but it isn't very warm. Kind of luke warm.

Why? Because when the power goes out, even for a second, the water heater resets to a low temperature. I'm guessing that lawyers had a hand in this. So I either have to endure a chilly shower, or run down to the 50 degree garage wet and naked and turn up the temperature.

 

[walkinwood]

You need a firmware hack

 

[traineeinvestor]

Thank you for vindicating my choice of career.

 

[ls99]

You need a firmware hack

+1.

It is the same bunch that limits hot tub temperatures to 104F. The d*mn doogooding bunch. 104 is just lukewarm for the purpose.

Yours truly devised a way to have top limit at 115F. We like it at 110 or 111F. Especially when it is 5 to 10F outside. Our tub is outside. True pleasure going outside bare a$$ed at that temp. and getting into a nice hot tub. The height of decadence IMHO.

 

[Bestwifeever]

You really need Lena there and not overseas so she can dash down to the water heater when she hears your first shrieks.

 

[missionfinder]

Weird, none of my new heaters have those issues.... one of them (the one used for washing clothes and dishes) is cranked up way up there. Neither reset when the power goes out.

 

[Moemg]

We have power outs or surges all the time and they never mess with our hot water . Is this a cost saving method and not an evil plot ? Plus why is your bathroom at 62 degrees ?

 

[Westernskies]

Good luck explaining to the neighbors why you are lurking in the garage stark naked and soaking wet when Lena drives up and hits the garage door opener....

 

[Janet H]

Good luck explaining to the neighbors why you are lurking in the garage stark naked and soaking wet when Lena drives up and hits the garage door opener....

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...)

 

[Westernskies]

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...)

...and she hits the slow underhand pitch out of the park....

 

[W2R]

Makes me glad I have a gas water heater (and a robe)! Never had that problem.

Tonight it's 73F inside, 65F outside here in New Orleans.

 

[Meadbh]

Got shrinkage, Al?

 

[donheff]

Got shrinkage, Al?

This will certainly keep you on your toes. I am going to check carefully before I replace a water heater, running down to the basement after stepping into a cold shower would be a complete PITA.

 

[MichaelB]

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...

 

[rescueme]

It could have been worse...

MASH Movie - A Shower with Hot Lips | Video « MOVIECLIPS

 

[KingB]

Why? Because when the power goes out, even for a second, the water heater resets to a low temperature.

Which manufacturer brand/model is this water heater. I want to make sure I avoid it the next time I change mine.

 

[ERD50]

Which manufacturer brand/model is this water heater. I want to make sure I avoid it the next time I change mine.

IIRC, this is one of those tankless ones. Another reason for me not to get one. Have not been impressed by what I've read.

-ERD50

 

[Dawg52]

Got shrinkage, Al?

YouTube - george costanza - i was in the pool

 

[RunningBum]

You must have quite an efficient heater if you think that turning the water temp back up is going to make a diff by the time you get back to the shower. I'd look into replacing the thermostat. I've never heard anything like this.

And....wear a robe to the garage!

 

[REWahoo]

You must have quite an efficient heater if you think that turning the water temp back up is going to make a diff by the time you get back to the shower.

I'm guessing it's a tankless model...

 

[Martha]

I think something is wrong with your water heater.

 

[yakers]

I think something is wrong with your water heater.

No, definitely its the lawyers

 

[TromboneAl]

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.

 

[Martha]

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. Apparently with your heater it returns to the preset after a power outage. That is a different issue, not a liability issue. It doesn't look like tanked water heaters return to a preset temp when the power is out.

Interestingly, when reading about this (not much, just an internet sampling) some say that the lower preset temps on water heater tanks result in risks of bacterial growth and you need to be up over 130 degrees to get past that issue. Of course, that is not an issue for the tankless heater.

So even just using the hot water faucet doesn't give you a high enough temp? If the preset is 120 degrees you would think that you would get hot enough water. What is the actual temperature of the water coming out of the faucet? Or is the preset less than 120?

 

[NW-Bound]

I have not used a tankless heater, but the loss of the preset temperature is interesting. With the old-style heaters, the temperature is set mechanically; it cannot be lost with a power outage.

It appears that the new heaters are controlled electronically. Could it be that the loss of the setting is due to the manufacturer being too cheap to put in a non-volatile memory to store the data? Hence, on power up, they have to default to the lowest temperature setting.

PS. The tanked heater in my boonies home does have an electronic control module. However, its temperature is set with a knob (a potentiometer for geeky types, which is read by the controller), and this setting cannot be "lost" with power outages.