They’re so sensitive because the person who installed them didn’t care enough to adjust the regulator. If this bothers you, you can take the handle off yourself with an allen wrench and adjust the valve so that when you turn it on, it’s the perfect temperature for you every time.
I tried that and it still ends up either freezing or burning, unless I turn the handle all the way on, then half way, then creep it up.
Is that what a bad mixing valve looks like?
If you live in the US, then you probably have a standard mixing valve
If you live elsewhere, it’s probably a thermostatic one
For US:
You want to turn your handle all the way hot to clear your hot water lines fast, it’s room temperature in the hot water lines. Once the water is hot, then you start mixing in cold water.
The first cold water is from the lines in your house. It is heated or cooled by your home, basically room temperature water.
So say I turn the valve on full hot. Pure hot water is pouring out. Now you add some of that “room temperature cold water” to get to your perfect temperature.
Now, once you run out of “room temperature cold water,” it will start pulling water from the street.
I’m guessing you live in a cooler climate area?
120°F + 70°F = perfect temperature
But if the outside water becomes, say 50°F after you use all your water stored in your cold water lines
120°F + 50°F = colder water
So you have to add less 50°F water, which means slowly creeping your valve up until you have steady temperature water going to the valve.
Things like the type of water heater matters. If you use a tank then as you use water it adds water. If you keep your tank at 120° and you’re adding 70° cold water or 50° water to the tank matters. You also have “room temperature water” in your cold lines going to your tank at first, then colder water. So that creates another “lag” in temperature
US standard mixing valves aren’t as nice as a thermostatic valve. They are just cheap and standard and work well enough in most places.
Thermostatic valves allow you to select, say 100°F water, and the knob just controls the water flow rate. No matter what, the water that comes out of your shower will be 100°F. As the water coming into your house gets colder it will automatically adjust. As the water from your tank gets colder, it will automatically adjust.
Sounds like your valve is working as intended though
There are set screws behind the cover that will let you adjust the balance. Open up the cold a bit more.
This. So many comments in this thread make it pretty clear that most people don’t know there’s a regulator built into the faucet.
Set your water heater lower. Like: make sure it’s above 120 at all times (130+ preferably) to prevent legionnaire’s, but 140 is PLENTY for most home uses. And it means you get a bigger range to move your mixer taps to.
That’s Fahrenheit right? Or are you suggesting 100+ Celsius?
It’s Kelvin
I know most chronic internet users don’t adjust their boiler temp settings. But there are easy ways to fix this.
Because it is hard to make a cheap valve that has a wide mixing ‘sweet spot’.
Rich people showers don’t have this problem
