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 Most of us especially those in older homes have had to do the shower side step when someone else in the house has flushed a toilet. If we are lucky, just a little discomfort, if unlucky, we could receive serious burns. The hot flash is caused by a pressure drop in the cold water. When someone flushes a toilet a lot of cold water rushes out of the system and down the bowl, this causes the hot water to over compensate or fill the empty place the cold water usage made and “blast” a burst of hot water out of the shower.
Scalding is a common problem that at times can be life threatening. In response to this problem, according to most plumbing codes enforced today licensed master plumbers are not permitted to install any shower body that does not have a pressure balanced controls and/or an anti-scald device as an intregal part of the shower/tub body. Most manufacturers have such devices in their present lines. Pressure balanced devices will help prevent that dreaded “hot shock” when someone flushes a toilet. BE SURE TO CHECK WITH YOUR PLUMBER OR PLUMBING SUPPLIER BEFORE PURCHASING ANY SHOWER CONTROLS.
Another new plumbing code that effects the scalding issue has been accepted in most parts of the country. This new code is designed to protect the consumer from Legionnaire’s Disease. According to the code the water temperature in any storage tank must be kept at a temperature above 140 degrees to kill the disease. This regulation means that it is important to regulate the temperature leaving the hot water heater by adding a tempering valve and using anti-scald devices at the point of use (showers and bathtubs). Raising the temperature in the hot water heater besides preventing the spread of diseases also will help stretch the amount of hot water you have for your shower. But if you do raise the temperature BE SURE to add a tempering device to bring the temperature back down to the recommended usage temperature of 112 to 115 degrees.
BURN/Temperature Ratio to produce second and third degree burns on an adult
At 160 degrees F-------------------------------------------------------1/2 second
At 150 degrees F-------------------------------------------------------1-1/2 seconds
At 140 degrees F-------------------------------------------------------5 seconds
At 130 degrees F-------------------------------------------------------30 seconds
At 120 degrees F-------------------------------------------------------5 minutes
Times will be reduced with young children, babies, or older people, so, please, use caution when setting the temperature on your hot water heater or the mixing valve on your tankless hot water coil on your boiler.
Also when purchasing any fixture remember some fixtures are pretty but if you can’t get parts for them in the future you will be replacing the whole fixture. So as a general rule stick with a brand name or ask your plumber
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