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Dulley's Money-Saving Tip #1135

Adjust max. water temperature at shower faucet valve

(related column topic links - 556, 807)

People most often have their water temperature set too high at the water heater. A temperature of 120 degrees is usually more that adequate. If it is hotter, you can be wasting energy at your shower and take a chance of scalding children.

When you first turn on your shower water, you usually set it to max. hot until the water gets hot and then you adjust it to a comfortable temperature. It usually runs very hot for a few seconds and then it takes you a few moments to get the temperature adjusted. This wastes a lot of hot water down the drain.

Most single-handle shower/bath valves have an adjustment screw behind the cover that will limit how far you can turn the handle to the hot side. This limits the maximum temperature of the water because some cold water is still being mixed with it. Adjust the screw so that the temperature is pretty close to the shower temperature that you prefer. Each time you use the shower, you can just push the handle to max. hot and the amount of time to adjust it and the wasted hot water will be minimal.