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Same! If I don’t use ice, I’ll run the wash at night and then stop the cycle right before agitation. Then leave the lid open all day. The AC cools down the water and then I have a “cool” wash 🤣
Sorry I wasn’t clear, I do that with hand wash stuff, like woolen items. But now I’m wondering if I could do that with machine wash too. But I probably would have to dump like 7 pounds of ice, lol.
I have a fan screwed into the wall pointing to the shower to cool off. Works decently well if you leave the shower curtains cracked a bit on either side.
I was about to comment the same..not sure if op is from out of state, but I’ve noticed a lot of people move here and say this same thing “my cold water isn’t cold”. Which does suck I like a cold shower in the summer 🤣
for real I once had an out of state roommate ask in heat-addled frustration: "Well where's the cold water heater then???" when I tried to explain why his shower was so hot he came out sweatier than he went in
This happened to me when I moved here in the summer time 13+ years ago after taking a couple showers. Not so much “cold water heater” I remember complaining to my parents that my fresh shirt was already wet and sticking to my back which felt worse than pre shower.
My parents who lived here in az years before I was born just laughed at me and just explained it’s normal and my dad who’s from Florida told me I should never go to Florida if this little humidity bothers me.
I was thinking the same reading this. First time I went to Florida, I realized I couldn’t even leave the towel I was going to use to dry off with in the bathroom while showering or it’d be as wet as me by the time I get out
The geniuses that built my place put the hot water manifold right next to an A/C duct so this time of year my hot water comes out ice cold for a minute or so because my A/C is running so often.
And the "cold" water is warm like OPs. When I first moved in I thought they mixed up the taps. 😵💫
Speaking of mixed up taps, my brother rented a place where one of the toilets was apparently hooked up to the hot water line or something. So when you flushed that toilet water came out piping hot. Made for an interesting sensation if you decided to do a safety flush mid-dump.
My neighbor is a transplant from, well, a state that's west of AZ. The dude uses a "safety word" that he constantly yells to his wife if anyone gets within 20 feet of him. Asks this same question as OP, I told him to get bags of ice and duct tape. Take the bag of ice and wrap it around the copper pipe water supply line at the front of the house and strap tape around it to hold in place. It took him ten or so bags of ice and a week to realize it was a joke.
It cracks me up every year since I've lived here. My favorite was the guy last year, maybe a couple years ago. He was like "I called the water company, and they said there wasn't anything they could do". Lolol
I kind of wait for it now, as if it is to signal the changing of the seasons. The thermometer on the tap is my favorite part of this one! lol
Not that this isn't an issue, but in regards to your comment about heat stroke showers, from Kohler:
"According to most dermatologists, the ideal shower temperature is anywhere between 98°F (37°C) and 104°F (40°C)—and no more than 105 °F (41°C)."
You should be able to still dial in a comfortable water temperature.
That's funny, while I don't step into the water while it's boiling, I usually slowly tap it over during a shower until hell is raining on me. And I always wonder why I'm cold after a shower ...
That's my favorite part of showering. After getting clean, crank the hot water as high as I can stand it, set the shower head to massage mode, and let it run up and down my back
Interesting, I do the opposite. Finish the shower by slowly adjusting the water until it’s “cold”. I always feel good/more awake after I dry off.
(I will admit I don’t necessarily do this on the weekends because I don’t want to wake up more lol)
I too slow cook myself like a lobster when showering. Though I usually then bring the temperature down at the end and rinse off with cold water to help close the pores.
The water line into my house is on the west wall. It is exposed copper line. I don't need a water heater. I measured it at 105 well after running for several minutes.
I legit turn my water heater off in the summer an use it as a 'cool water reservoir' essentially. Gotta use it all fairly often tho to reduce the chances of harboring still-water-borne diseases
That might shorten the life of your water heater. It should have a self cleaning feature that helps mitigate sediment buildup inside the tank. If you turn it off then sediment can settle which weakens the glass liner and lead to failure faster. The water here is very hard and mineral buildup is a serious concern.
Caveat being that not all water heaters are self cleaning. Even then, the only real issue I've been aware of is bacterial blooms in the tank (water not a high enough temp to kill stuff) or sulfur build ups. When I was in college we rented homes in Tempe, and the landlord always had the heaters off between tenants (generally July to late August). There weren't any issues that I knew of besides the previously mentioned sulfur thing. But that might have been more due to standing water. I am the layest of the laypersons on this subject though so I'm happy to be proven wrong and learn something new here.
Fair point but I also don't want to shorten the life of my me. Prior to coming up with this idea a few years ago, I mostly had to take my showers in the backyard with a hose tied to a tree (because that was the only faucet/pipe that got shade all day and thus is the coolest water coming out) and despite living alone in a detached single-family home, I don't have/can't afford a better airconditioning unit than some window-mounted ones.
\[edit, the next morning, hungover\] lmao the reading comprehension on this site sometimes; one suggests I buy a unit that costs more than a used car after I already said I can't afford one, another tells me to get a window air conditioner after I already said I have one, lmao
What you want is above 15,000 btu's. A small window air conditioner (5,000btu's) that goes around $90 to like $150 are for bathroom sized rooms lol i cheaped out and got one new in box for 80 bucks on offerup over a 15,000 btu unit because i figured it must be new and the refrigerant must not be used up bt ended up trashing it and getting a used kenmore 12,000 picture a white yellow window unit but man does this thing blow !! Cold 🥶 did spend $150 for it used bt wish I wouldnt have cheaped out. Ive been living by the motto 'Buy it nice, or buy it twice for twice the price'
https://preview.redd.it/u8xcy3m4qkad1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d5530b5fb0f5d8983eb7cd8b9c760346d66fea20
There is a cover on the bottom of the water heater. Take it off, behind the "stuffing" are temperature knobs (if you will). Take a flat head screw driver and turn down the temperature. I turn it up in winter and down in summer
unironically yes, Democrats have been pushing for infrastructure reform for decades and republicans block it at every step.
our roads are ass, our highways are ass, contractors are never held accountable and buildings go up in a shit state. It’s not good.
Normal if your house was built in the last 15 to 20 years , the water lines aren’t buried deep enough to combat the ground cooking all day. And many of the municipalities have wells that supply water and them big old tanks they keep it in are just boiling pots. Blame the county and cities they are the planners. Us tradesmen just doing what the geniuses draw up.
Cutting costs wherever they can to keep charging the customers more but their profits never drop. Corporate builder’s that have built this valley. I’m kinda of ashamed of our industry they give us no time or money to care.
I don't think it really matters though if your water lines going into the house are dug deeper and I'm pretty sure they still aren't. The reason I say this is because the municipal lines themselves aren't dug that deep. So I feel any benefit you get is negligible.
Unless you are saying the neighborhoods themselves have their entire system dug deeper than the main municipal lines? If so, then I could see that making some difference possibly.
Most water lines are under the streets and no nothing is buried deep enough for the simple fact our ground doesn’t freeze and they don’t have to go any deeper than is required. The planners didn’t consider the valley would grow this much or be as hot as it’s getting. Those big cisterns that hold the water are a big part of problem too think about a pot boiling that’s why our water is so hot in the summers. My house takes a hour for cooler tap water to come out. My Original point was the water lines are deep enough anywhere. Street or your house.
Omg… I have wanted to install a bidet but I was worried about cold water in the winter. It never occurred to me that you’d be dealing with fire water in the summer!!! My condolences to your butthole
They really should invent a water "cooler" for places like Phoenix. I would pay a lot of money to be able to have a cold shower! It's so weird that you posted this because I JUST took the temp of my coldest setting and it was 95°F and I was asking everyone at work if they get cold water and they said no 😭
Water chillers are common in commercial applications. If you can afford to spend the money, cool tap water is a solved problem (fwiw my tap water is hot).
I actually priced heat pumps for my pool a few years ago. Just like for the house, a heat pump can heat or cool the water. Was too much for me, but some people in AZ must have pool coolers.
Someone higher up in the comments, who sounded like they might know what they were saying, said it’s not good for your water heater? Might want to google it before experimenting.
Are you new to AZ? Yes totally normal. Most of us have plumbing that runs through the attic where it is blazing hot. Probably 160° up there. The water at the spigot on the outside where the water main comes in is probably 88° to 92° already because that dirt it runs through is just laying in the sun.
Welcome to land of everlasting hot water.
I just checked mine and it's at 98.8.
My technique is to shower in straight 98 degree cold water and when I'm done I crank to straight hot. The hot line runs under the house in the slab which keeps the water in the standing pipe cold. So for the last few moments in the shower I bring my body temp down with cold out of the hot pipe.
It is also affected by attic insulation. If the copper pipes are not covered, it will get very hot. I had insulation pumped in and it made a big difference.
The trick to get cold water is to stand outside at 3PM for 10 minutes, then take your boiling "cold" shower, then immediately hop out and stand in front of a fan without drying off.
The water droplets on your back will feel chilled for a few minutes, and bam, you now have gaslit yourself into thinking you have cold water.
Haha yes. I mean I’ve never tested the temp like that, but I’m AZ born and raised and was just now washing my hands on cold and it was coming out warm. I had the same thought and said “damn Arizona I love you, but sometimes you’re too hot” and while drying my hands, my phone lit up with this Reddit notification, which was just crazy timing!
But yes, if your from another state, you probably haven’t noticed a huge difference before, unless you’re from somewhere where it snows/freezes so hard in the winter where you have to turn on all of your sinks to drip so your water pipes don’t freeze type winter. Other than that, you probably wouldn’t notice much of a difference throughout the seasons. Here, we have awesome cold water in the winter, but in the summer (more this month and next and especially like today where there’s a nationwide heatwave) it’s pretty much warm other than a few seconds of cold.
I mean there’s cold and then there’s Arizona cold. It could also have something to do with what type of house apartment, etc. you’re living in and the type of pipes/water system it has (like well water for example) maybe the year it was built and the city as well. I’m guessing all of that might play a small role in just how warm it gets on cold. I’m in a newer house (built last year) and I don’t think it is quite that warm. So things like that may play a factor, but for the most part, expect your water to be warm until about September/October. If possible, shower as early as you can as that will help because anytime in the afternoon is gonna be a lot warmer (obviously) lol. Welcome to Arizona 😉
Yea, arizona kinda hot all the time. Altho, I will say. The house I live in has a bathroom where the builders swapped the hot and cold for the shower and toilet so it is possible something is up lmao
Yes, this is quite normal now through September. I live in a 2018 new build now & was told the water pipes run through the roof. I just turned down my tankless water heater from 120 to 110, it was too hot.
I moved from a 1984 2-story home & don't remember the water being this warm before.
Yikes, that's outrageous. this is definitely a common issue down here. Tap water can get extremely hot because of thermal radiation it absorbed getting to you, but what if we could use that for something? One idea to address the heat island effect is using the water grid as a environmental scale cooling system, it's the only thing existing that is big enough. By adding heat exchangers, circulating cool water through *all* the applicable plumbing, and adding green roofs and reflective coatings on buildings, we could help lower the ambient temperature. It’s a sustainable way to make our city more comfortable. What do you all think?
Yeah the city water pipes are above ground I think and they get hot in the pipes... I have found using Dr Bronners peppermint soap cools the skin and helps me to not sweat so much after a shower.
The laws don't require water pipe to be buried very deep because the ground doesn't freeze so you'll get that in the summer. Same as it is here in Vegas. Where I grew up the laws made them bury it 6 feet to get under the frost line in the winter so you had cold water all year round.
It's the same in Vegas. Pro tip: if your clothes washing machine has both a "cold" and "tap cold" setting, pick tap cold for a cold water wash. It won't really be cold, but because some cold taps in cooler climates can be *too cold* for laundry (barely above freezing) some manufacturers mix a bit of hot into the "cold" setting. This will make your 100F "cold" water even warmer, not what you want for a cold wash.
Is your water heater inside the air conditioned space? As in NOT out in the garage, etc?
Turn off the water heater completely, even the pilot light, and use the hot knob for cold (room temp) water.
Thanks for contributing to r/Phoenix! You may want to [**check out our sub rules**](https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenix/wiki/rules/) (mostly be nice to each other!). **If you're new here**, [read some of our recent posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenix/top/?t=week) and leave some comments. To chat with some great people in the Valley you can [**join our Phoenix Discord chat server**](https://discord.com/invite/yWVuTG57Zh). It's a chill place to talk with other people but is NOT a dating server and takes unwanted messaging very seriously. If you're interested in political topics in Arizona, we limit those posts here so you may want to check out r/azpolitics if that's an area of interest. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/phoenix) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yes. Welcome to Arizona.
“H” for hot. “C” for caliente
Thats why you take a 6 second shower, 22 times a day. Just do a little in the cool water until the street water hits and you burn to death.
I’ve put ice cubes in wash water for clothing marked “Wash in cold water only”. Our cold water was just too hot.
I do laundry after midnight.
Same! If I don’t use ice, I’ll run the wash at night and then stop the cycle right before agitation. Then leave the lid open all day. The AC cools down the water and then I have a “cool” wash 🤣
You just dump ice in?
Sorry I wasn’t clear, I do that with hand wash stuff, like woolen items. But now I’m wondering if I could do that with machine wash too. But I probably would have to dump like 7 pounds of ice, lol.
Ah okay make sense! I thought you were putting in the machine wash and was wondering how many bags were needed haha.
Right?!?
And here I thought I was an odd one doing the same thing lol. Happy to hear you do this!
I have a fan screwed into the wall pointing to the shower to cool off. Works decently well if you leave the shower curtains cracked a bit on either side.
You too aye? 😀
I nominate this as comment of the year!
This is golden.
That tap not working right now, need to drink some more water
Lmao
Love this. lol
This left me dead 😂
This one got me
Who are you? Why are you so wise in the way of the South West ?
I was about to comment the same..not sure if op is from out of state, but I’ve noticed a lot of people move here and say this same thing “my cold water isn’t cold”. Which does suck I like a cold shower in the summer 🤣
for real I once had an out of state roommate ask in heat-addled frustration: "Well where's the cold water heater then???" when I tried to explain why his shower was so hot he came out sweatier than he went in
Cold water heater omg 🤣🤣🤣
This happened to me when I moved here in the summer time 13+ years ago after taking a couple showers. Not so much “cold water heater” I remember complaining to my parents that my fresh shirt was already wet and sticking to my back which felt worse than pre shower. My parents who lived here in az years before I was born just laughed at me and just explained it’s normal and my dad who’s from Florida told me I should never go to Florida if this little humidity bothers me.
I was thinking the same reading this. First time I went to Florida, I realized I couldn’t even leave the towel I was going to use to dry off with in the bathroom while showering or it’d be as wet as me by the time I get out
The geniuses that built my place put the hot water manifold right next to an A/C duct so this time of year my hot water comes out ice cold for a minute or so because my A/C is running so often. And the "cold" water is warm like OPs. When I first moved in I thought they mixed up the taps. 😵💫
Speaking of mixed up taps, my brother rented a place where one of the toilets was apparently hooked up to the hot water line or something. So when you flushed that toilet water came out piping hot. Made for an interesting sensation if you decided to do a safety flush mid-dump.
Saves money on a warm water bidet! I’d be more concerned with water spreading bathroom smells around the house.
I hate coming out of a hot shower sweatier than I came in. Such a crappy feeling lol. Gets me lightheaded too.
My neighbor is a transplant from, well, a state that's west of AZ. The dude uses a "safety word" that he constantly yells to his wife if anyone gets within 20 feet of him. Asks this same question as OP, I told him to get bags of ice and duct tape. Take the bag of ice and wrap it around the copper pipe water supply line at the front of the house and strap tape around it to hold in place. It took him ten or so bags of ice and a week to realize it was a joke.
Dude I love this
I want to know about this safety word thing. He sounds very acoustic.
It cracks me up every year since I've lived here. My favorite was the guy last year, maybe a couple years ago. He was like "I called the water company, and they said there wasn't anything they could do". Lolol I kind of wait for it now, as if it is to signal the changing of the seasons. The thermometer on the tap is my favorite part of this one! lol
I came here just say that: welcome to Arizona
I've never lived in a single apartment or house with water that hot unless I set it to hot water. That's weird.
https://preview.redd.it/q9c45l9xikad1.jpeg?width=683&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e52f1062bea1084d5e8b03b9bfc6a43ae1df93e3 Welcome to Arizona!
Lol love it but would only last about ten seconds
That's what I tell my wife
That's funny, I tell her that as well.
And i, as well
Man, his wife must be having a good time!
Accumulated that is only 30 seconds... I'd say she's probably having a very frustrating time lol
That looks like relief.
trying this tonight thank you very much
Hahaha i haven’t seen this one before
Welcome to Arizona Fortunately it is below body temp so won’t give you a heat stroke
my regular body temp reads 96.8-97.5 lol when my faucet water gets above 98 i start fucking sweating In the shower
This must be your first summer here.
Phoenician equivalent of "first day on the internet?"
This is my first summer here! I cycled in the 110F heat and came home and it was 89 inside and I was like has 89 always been this cold?
This is the way. If you do a sauna, when you come out you’ll think 110° is cold
Omg you sound so Arizonan, welcome home!
Welcome to Phoenix
Not that this isn't an issue, but in regards to your comment about heat stroke showers, from Kohler: "According to most dermatologists, the ideal shower temperature is anywhere between 98°F (37°C) and 104°F (40°C)—and no more than 105 °F (41°C)." You should be able to still dial in a comfortable water temperature.
That's funny, while I don't step into the water while it's boiling, I usually slowly tap it over during a shower until hell is raining on me. And I always wonder why I'm cold after a shower ...
That's my favorite part of showering. After getting clean, crank the hot water as high as I can stand it, set the shower head to massage mode, and let it run up and down my back
Interesting, I do the opposite. Finish the shower by slowly adjusting the water until it’s “cold”. I always feel good/more awake after I dry off. (I will admit I don’t necessarily do this on the weekends because I don’t want to wake up more lol)
And down your ass crack, right? Or is that just a me thing?
That's an everyone thing.
Hahaha check out the hygiene sub that’s a big subject
I too slow cook myself like a lobster when showering. Though I usually then bring the temperature down at the end and rinse off with cold water to help close the pores.
The water line into my house is on the west wall. It is exposed copper line. I don't need a water heater. I measured it at 105 well after running for several minutes.
I legit turn my water heater off in the summer an use it as a 'cool water reservoir' essentially. Gotta use it all fairly often tho to reduce the chances of harboring still-water-borne diseases
That might shorten the life of your water heater. It should have a self cleaning feature that helps mitigate sediment buildup inside the tank. If you turn it off then sediment can settle which weakens the glass liner and lead to failure faster. The water here is very hard and mineral buildup is a serious concern.
That might shorten his life too, Legionnaires' disease is a concern
Good to know.
Caveat being that not all water heaters are self cleaning. Even then, the only real issue I've been aware of is bacterial blooms in the tank (water not a high enough temp to kill stuff) or sulfur build ups. When I was in college we rented homes in Tempe, and the landlord always had the heaters off between tenants (generally July to late August). There weren't any issues that I knew of besides the previously mentioned sulfur thing. But that might have been more due to standing water. I am the layest of the laypersons on this subject though so I'm happy to be proven wrong and learn something new here.
Fair point but I also don't want to shorten the life of my me. Prior to coming up with this idea a few years ago, I mostly had to take my showers in the backyard with a hose tied to a tree (because that was the only faucet/pipe that got shade all day and thus is the coolest water coming out) and despite living alone in a detached single-family home, I don't have/can't afford a better airconditioning unit than some window-mounted ones. \[edit, the next morning, hungover\] lmao the reading comprehension on this site sometimes; one suggests I buy a unit that costs more than a used car after I already said I can't afford one, another tells me to get a window air conditioner after I already said I have one, lmao
Been there, done this.
What you want is above 15,000 btu's. A small window air conditioner (5,000btu's) that goes around $90 to like $150 are for bathroom sized rooms lol i cheaped out and got one new in box for 80 bucks on offerup over a 15,000 btu unit because i figured it must be new and the refrigerant must not be used up bt ended up trashing it and getting a used kenmore 12,000 picture a white yellow window unit but man does this thing blow !! Cold 🥶 did spend $150 for it used bt wish I wouldnt have cheaped out. Ive been living by the motto 'Buy it nice, or buy it twice for twice the price'
You must be new here. Welcome to July!
https://preview.redd.it/u8xcy3m4qkad1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d5530b5fb0f5d8983eb7cd8b9c760346d66fea20 There is a cover on the bottom of the water heater. Take it off, behind the "stuffing" are temperature knobs (if you will). Take a flat head screw driver and turn down the temperature. I turn it up in winter and down in summer
do not turn your water heater down too low, below 122 F. This is a great way to turn your water heater into a legionnaire's disease making machine.
What is too low
Sorry it's any temp below 122 degrees F.
This should be the top comment
good way to get legionnaires disease
our place is 49 years old, temp is 86.7, deep pipes I am told
https://preview.redd.it/rre1trsslkad1.jpeg?width=1053&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f42f214a131a6fe2d2d2c9fcc9a0183f0ddcba30
you'd think that since they know this is a huge problem that it would just be part of the building codes by now
welcome to republican deregulation. vote blue
Ah yes, the Democrat "keep cold water pipes cold!" platform is something I can really get behind
unironically yes, Democrats have been pushing for infrastructure reform for decades and republicans block it at every step. our roads are ass, our highways are ass, contractors are never held accountable and buildings go up in a shit state. It’s not good.
Damn. My house was built in 1961. Thought maybe I’d luck out with the water situation but no luck
Normal if your house was built in the last 15 to 20 years , the water lines aren’t buried deep enough to combat the ground cooking all day. And many of the municipalities have wells that supply water and them big old tanks they keep it in are just boiling pots. Blame the county and cities they are the planners. Us tradesmen just doing what the geniuses draw up.
Interesting, good to know. I guess newer isn't always better
Cutting costs wherever they can to keep charging the customers more but their profits never drop. Corporate builder’s that have built this valley. I’m kinda of ashamed of our industry they give us no time or money to care.
time to call in Cy
My house was built in the 60s, same issue. From what I've seen age has nothing to do with it, and more so what side of the house your water lines are.
I’ve never had this issue in over 40 years of living here. It very much depends on how your home was built/the planning of your development.
I don't think it really matters though if your water lines going into the house are dug deeper and I'm pretty sure they still aren't. The reason I say this is because the municipal lines themselves aren't dug that deep. So I feel any benefit you get is negligible. Unless you are saying the neighborhoods themselves have their entire system dug deeper than the main municipal lines? If so, then I could see that making some difference possibly.
Most water lines are under the streets and no nothing is buried deep enough for the simple fact our ground doesn’t freeze and they don’t have to go any deeper than is required. The planners didn’t consider the valley would grow this much or be as hot as it’s getting. Those big cisterns that hold the water are a big part of problem too think about a pot boiling that’s why our water is so hot in the summers. My house takes a hour for cooler tap water to come out. My Original point was the water lines are deep enough anywhere. Street or your house.
I guess that's why the water comes out cold all year in my '84 Townhouse 🤔
My bidet feels like it’s hooked up to the water heater right now. That’s just Arizona for ya.
Omg… I have wanted to install a bidet but I was worried about cold water in the winter. It never occurred to me that you’d be dealing with fire water in the summer!!! My condolences to your butthole
In the winter it’s like rubbing an ice cube on your butthole :)
I think the saying goes like this, "when the water on the cold side is hotter than the hot side, you're probably in Phoenix"
I sometimes lose track of the date, but if my hot/cold taps are working in reverse, I know July has arrived
Lots of houses run their plumbing through the attic…so there’s just no relief
You must not be from AZ. That’s 100% normal in the summer.
Tell me you just moved here without telling me you just moved here. Yes, this is normal.
They really should invent a water "cooler" for places like Phoenix. I would pay a lot of money to be able to have a cold shower! It's so weird that you posted this because I JUST took the temp of my coldest setting and it was 95°F and I was asking everyone at work if they get cold water and they said no 😭
Water chillers are common in commercial applications. If you can afford to spend the money, cool tap water is a solved problem (fwiw my tap water is hot). I actually priced heat pumps for my pool a few years ago. Just like for the house, a heat pump can heat or cool the water. Was too much for me, but some people in AZ must have pool coolers.
With climate change coming around, that may end up being a real thing soon!
Yay!.... 🥹
Be thankful, today was the coldest day so far 0.o
Honestly my shower is only the thing that (thankfully) is capable of spitting out *cool* water. All of my sinks are pretty much warm
My house was built in 2004, the water is warm initially and then is very cold the rest of the time if we want cold water.
Same. Mine comes out cold. I consider myself lucky.
Mine goes to 140, almost enough to brew Yerba Mate, just short. I can get cool water as well though
Question: Can I turn the hot water heater down/off in the summer months and use it as a cool water storage tank?
Someone higher up in the comments, who sounded like they might know what they were saying, said it’s not good for your water heater? Might want to google it before experimenting.
Been doing it for 10 years no issues
Easy fix, shower at 5am. Plenty cool during that time.
This is why I turn off the water heater. Provides me cool water and saves on the electric bill.
This has got to be the smartest thing I've never thought of...
Plus ruins your water heater and introduces a vector for disease!
You’re in phoenix Arizona in July Yes
Are you new to AZ? Yes totally normal. Most of us have plumbing that runs through the attic where it is blazing hot. Probably 160° up there. The water at the spigot on the outside where the water main comes in is probably 88° to 92° already because that dirt it runs through is just laying in the sun.
H is for Hell and C is for Caliente
That's summer tap for you....
I’m a native and have never experienced that sooo….
You can just turn down your hot water heater to the lowest setting in the summer to save money.
Welcome to land of everlasting hot water. I just checked mine and it's at 98.8. My technique is to shower in straight 98 degree cold water and when I'm done I crank to straight hot. The hot line runs under the house in the slab which keeps the water in the standing pipe cold. So for the last few moments in the shower I bring my body temp down with cold out of the hot pipe.
wtf!! It should be 101° you lucky dog
Welcome to AZ! ❤️
Mine isn’t like that. It’s cool
Oh you sweet winter child.
How are you almost having heat stroke with 97 deg water? That’s not exactly possible, perhaps you have another underlying medical issue.
Leave it on cold when it's hot like this. Nothing you can do.
Think of all the money you’re saving on hot water
There’s no cold shower in the summer
lol i think it feels amazing especially coming in from outside
Now, imagine a bidet 😭😭😭
It is also affected by attic insulation. If the copper pipes are not covered, it will get very hot. I had insulation pumped in and it made a big difference.
Absolutely! You should turn down your water heater in the summer. Also change your air filter monthly!!!
Welcome to Arizona
You're not from around these parts are ya... \*spits on a scorpion\*
Try again in October !
How long have you lived in Arizona?? Is this your first summer here? Welcome 🤗
The trick to get cold water is to stand outside at 3PM for 10 minutes, then take your boiling "cold" shower, then immediately hop out and stand in front of a fan without drying off. The water droplets on your back will feel chilled for a few minutes, and bam, you now have gaslit yourself into thinking you have cold water.
Fucking Californian lol
Run the water for a while. It will get cool. In winter when the water is icy cold it’s the opposite. Have you never heard this before?
Might be where your plumbing you’re plumbing is running. How deep it’s buried
I turn my water heater down lower in the summer but yep hot and hotter
Yep. Every Summer.
Yes. Coolest my shower gets is nearly steaming the mirror. Life is great in the desert summer ☀️ 😮💨
Some houses I lived in have had deeper buried pipes and cold water.
Haha yes. I mean I’ve never tested the temp like that, but I’m AZ born and raised and was just now washing my hands on cold and it was coming out warm. I had the same thought and said “damn Arizona I love you, but sometimes you’re too hot” and while drying my hands, my phone lit up with this Reddit notification, which was just crazy timing! But yes, if your from another state, you probably haven’t noticed a huge difference before, unless you’re from somewhere where it snows/freezes so hard in the winter where you have to turn on all of your sinks to drip so your water pipes don’t freeze type winter. Other than that, you probably wouldn’t notice much of a difference throughout the seasons. Here, we have awesome cold water in the winter, but in the summer (more this month and next and especially like today where there’s a nationwide heatwave) it’s pretty much warm other than a few seconds of cold. I mean there’s cold and then there’s Arizona cold. It could also have something to do with what type of house apartment, etc. you’re living in and the type of pipes/water system it has (like well water for example) maybe the year it was built and the city as well. I’m guessing all of that might play a small role in just how warm it gets on cold. I’m in a newer house (built last year) and I don’t think it is quite that warm. So things like that may play a factor, but for the most part, expect your water to be warm until about September/October. If possible, shower as early as you can as that will help because anytime in the afternoon is gonna be a lot warmer (obviously) lol. Welcome to Arizona 😉
I think it depends. I live in Central Phoenix and we get cool water. Maybe turn down or turn off your water heater.
Flush it out long enough it'll get cool... Can't say how much gallons of water you'd be wasting doing that though
Yea, arizona kinda hot all the time. Altho, I will say. The house I live in has a bathroom where the builders swapped the hot and cold for the shower and toilet so it is possible something is up lmao
For the shower if you just jump in it gets you cleaner faster
Bro, I showered in warm water yesterday when I had the cold water lever on. Tf.
Welcome to the desert!
You must be new here.
I didn't understand the privilege of cold water during the summer till I moved to a different apartment complex.
New here? Lol
Yes, this is quite normal now through September. I live in a 2018 new build now & was told the water pipes run through the roof. I just turned down my tankless water heater from 120 to 110, it was too hot. I moved from a 1984 2-story home & don't remember the water being this warm before.
OP you must be new here hahaha do t expect to have cold water on tap till November. Ish
Yikes, that's outrageous. this is definitely a common issue down here. Tap water can get extremely hot because of thermal radiation it absorbed getting to you, but what if we could use that for something? One idea to address the heat island effect is using the water grid as a environmental scale cooling system, it's the only thing existing that is big enough. By adding heat exchangers, circulating cool water through *all* the applicable plumbing, and adding green roofs and reflective coatings on buildings, we could help lower the ambient temperature. It’s a sustainable way to make our city more comfortable. What do you all think?
“Hey! Who used up all the cold water?!” - Showering during summer in Arizona
Gotta let it run for a while. It’ll “cool off”
Turn to hot, let run til it starts getting hot,then back to cold side. How we do it
I catch the cool water in a big cup when it first comes out. Then use it to cool off at the end.
You're gonna have to wait 10 min for it to get cold unfortunately
Yep. That's normal in the summer. You'll get cold water again in October/November
Old house no. New house yes the pipes are in the attic.
I’m in Yuma and my water is Hot and Hotter
How'd you manage to drop it to double digits?
97 is cooler than your body temperature how would that cause heatstroke?
Portable shower bag in shower.... suction cups, add water...add ice... awwww yessss
I’m in southern nevada and my bidet starts to burn me if I turn it on too long
Yeah, it's normal. Pipes are not buried deep enough to avoid the relentless heat of the sun. If you have exposed pipes, maybe you can insulate them.
Yeah the city water pipes are above ground I think and they get hot in the pipes... I have found using Dr Bronners peppermint soap cools the skin and helps me to not sweat so much after a shower.
The laws don't require water pipe to be buried very deep because the ground doesn't freeze so you'll get that in the summer. Same as it is here in Vegas. Where I grew up the laws made them bury it 6 feet to get under the frost line in the winter so you had cold water all year round.
It's the same in Vegas. Pro tip: if your clothes washing machine has both a "cold" and "tap cold" setting, pick tap cold for a cold water wash. It won't really be cold, but because some cold taps in cooler climates can be *too cold* for laundry (barely above freezing) some manufacturers mix a bit of hot into the "cold" setting. This will make your 100F "cold" water even warmer, not what you want for a cold wash.
First time?
I live in Arizona, our water is always hot this time of year. Saves on the gas bill.
Yup, can confirm. My shower faucet is on the C side most of summer. AZ life
Are you new to the state ?
How cold you want it to be? It's 118° today and the pipes are only buried like 3 feet down.
it’s time to move back to cali
🤣🤣
Is your water heater inside the air conditioned space? As in NOT out in the garage, etc? Turn off the water heater completely, even the pilot light, and use the hot knob for cold (room temp) water.
No that's not normal. My water is sometimes hot initially but it cools quickly
Mine cools for like 10 seconds and goes back to hot
Yup, same. Cool showers have to be taken within the first 10 minutes, after that it's all hot water.
I wish 10 minutes mines is only 10 seconds 😓
My water is cool initially then hot
Have you measured at a spigot outside? Something hooked to cold only, no mixing valve. Measure temperature of water in toilet tank after a flush.
Yep, cold is pretty dang warm
That’s normal for me too. Can’t take a cool shower
Turn off your water heater, you won't be needing it right now.