Hot/Cold Water Issues
I live in a pre-war, 4 story walk up rental building. It has 20 apts, 50% market rate and 50% rent stabilized (aging/elderly tenants). The owner is not stingy (plenty of heat etc) and the super takes a lot of pride in maintaining the building. However, I have a hot/cold issue with my shower that…
I live in a pre-war, 4 story walk up rental building. It has 20 apts, 50% market rate and 50% rent stabilized (aging/elderly tenants). The owner is not stingy (plenty of heat etc) and the super takes a lot of pride in maintaining the building. However, I have a hot/cold issue with my shower that is getting worse over time. During the morning rush, and now all evening long, the hot and cold water from the shower fluctuates tremendously. Sometimes it goes to scalding hot or ice cold in less than a second. Other times it is gradual temp change. I never notice this in the faucets, only the shower. The time it takes me to shower is almost doubled because I am spending extra time adjusting the knobs or waiting for the temp to even out again. One time I almost slipped and fell trying to avoid getting scalded! I am concerned about the elderly people who can not react as quickly as myself. Anyway, I casually mentioned it to my super twice now, and his response was “the building is just old and there is nothing we can do.”
Anyone have any thoughts or advice?
FWIW, they capped off and removed the tub spout during a recently “renovation” and I have two knobs (H+C)
BOD, does the uneven hot water happen in the non-heating season?
We had this problem in our house. New mixing valves for the shower (along with those hotel style single knob shower control) fixed it.
While showering before that installation, if someone turned on the dishwasher, flushed the toilet, or any other use resulted in all cold or all hot. You learned to move fast.
Hank, yes. I have 1 knob for hot, and 1 knob for cold. And I have an identical, but fixed, knob between the two – presumably where the old tub spigot was(?) There are no temp flux issues whatsoever in the kitchen sink or bathroom sink. There are no water pressure issues throughout the apt. When I flush the toilet, the water temp in the shower does not suddenly change. Same for when I turn on the sink faucet. I ran the shower at 3am a few times, and consistantly got a steady temp. That last test led me to believe it has to do with other apartments using water. Keep in mind half the occupants do not leave at all during the daytime (elderly)so there is contant usage. It is a mystery to me.
Benson, I’m more inclined to question the user’s observation that they get steady hot water. Not all calling them a liar.. just questioning.. I don’t think someone standing at a sink brushing their teeth or washing dishes is as sensitive to temperature fluctuations like when they are taking a shower. When you’ve experienced this problem, like I have, there’s nothing worse than having the water rush to cold while your in the middle of rinsing shampoo or washing your face. Blindly fumbling to adjust the temperature is not fun..
BOD states that water pressure fine, so that’s why i rule out valves. The single lever device that Hank mentioned wouldn’t help much either. The anti-scald features would be beneficial, but they won’t solve your problem with uneven heat.. If a tankless coil is being used.
The solution is to either tweak the Boiler Controls so that they provide proper priority for Domestic Hot Water. Or install some sort of indirect storage.
Colonel;
I understand your point, but BOD has stated that she gets steady hot water at the other faucets. Wouldn’t that indicatethe problem is the valves in the shower?
Am I missing something here? (Any plumbers, please weigh in.) It’s an old fashioned setup with hot and cold valves as stated by the OP so there is no mixing valve. Shower valve bodies are the more modern, single lever devices which regulate pressure and temperature. The individual hot and cold valves are another story. Additionally the problem is intermittent so that pretty much eliminates a blockage (degraded washer) in one of the valves. The problem would most likely be remedied by installing a shower valve body (if you can convince the L/L).
Austin – good point. I am friendly with some of my neighbors, and they have also mentioned they deal with a similar issue.
Instead of Point of Service(faucets, valves etc), I’d be more inclined to think the problem lies at the Point of Origin(boiler)..
If you have a hydronic heating system AND domestic hot water is heated by a coil at the boiler, you could experience the very symptoms you describe. The sudden drop in domestic hot water is due to the radiator circulator kicking on and drawing all of the heat out of the boiler.
If your building has this kind of heating system(tankless coil), which many old building do, then opening walls and checking valves is a waste of time.
^^^ it is a rental building.
After doing a google image search, what I have seems to be called:
“Two handle compression valve for shower only” Model # SF-17
Any more leads given this info? Thank you!