Spin the dial to the left and you’re drowning under a frozen glacier waterfall. Spin it to the right and you’re stinging under some sharp second degree burns.
We all know your perfect temperature lies somewhere between these dangerous extremes so every time you strip down to scrub up you’re playing detective. Oh, you know that perfect temperature is out there, but there are so just many problems.
First off, there’s the tale of the tank. See, we all know hot water is made not born. Chances are good that a fat clunky water heater sits somewhere in the basement under piles of rust, cobwebs, and Christmas tree ornaments, and each morning you’re crunching numbers to figure out what she’s got left to give. Bubbling to the top, you’re fine, but if you’re the last to go, it’s time to crank it.
Secondly there’s The You Factor. Yes, you and your temperature fussiness. After all, if you live somewhere chilly winter mornings are marked by running from your sheet cave across ice-cold linoleum floors to the bathroom, then your perfect temperature could be hotter than normal. And on sweaty summer mornings, you might make do with a slightly cool rinse. And if you just finished a basketball game, just got out of the pool, or are aching with a sore neck, you could have all kinds of different shower plans.
Point is: there’s one or two dials max, without numbers or letters on them, that you’ve got to spin around in your groggy half-asleep state, to find the perfect shower temperature. Sometimes you stick your hand in to test, sometimes you jump in there in your birthday suit ready for anything.
When you step into the shower and it’s at the exact right temperature, you’re absolutely loving it. Bring on the shampoo afros, lathery bellies, and nose blowing as you get ready for ten hot minutes of
AWESOME!
(Wow, PC Mag just named us one of the Top 100 Websites of 2009. In July? Sure. Thanks, guys.)
Congrats on the PC Mag honors. That’s AWESOME! :)
As for the shower – couldn’t agree more. And its totally true that you have different “ideal temperatures” depending on the circumstances. I can usually nail this pretty well at home, but using someone else’s shower? Total mystery.. I usually end up having a speedy cold one, just to avoid having to explain why I spent 30 minutes in their bathroom trying to figure out how to get the shower temps right!
…awkward…
Eddie Izzard said it best :D.
I especially love showers so I enjoyed this post quite a bit =) Thanks.
Great post but unfortunately due to the ongoing droughts here in Australia our recommended shower time is only 4 minutes. That’s barely enough to get the temperature in the zone let alone finish your whole shower. I can understand the reasons for this but still 4 minutes showers are definitely not awesome.
o.O FOUR MINUTES! i didnt know about that. woops, i normally have, um, like, maybe…. 20? haha, im naughty.
Oh my goodness, that picture of the dial is the same exact one in my shower.
Completely AWESOME. : )
Congrats on PC Mag! Well-deserved! Many more honours to go though I’d wager, what with another 712 things on the way.
And I believe that the shower is almost sacred. Which is why my favourite part of coming back from vacation is getting to use my own shower again. :) Yes perfect temperature on the first try.
Oh yeah! Score one for my tally.
Showers in Germany let you dial in an actual temperature, not some mixture of hot and cold. So you set it to 39 C and you get a perfect shower everytime. That’s awesome.
This is also very, very nice! And I love my showers as steamy as possible. I realized though that many other houses can get their water to a ridiculously high temperature and that my steamy showers just don’t compare to.
Ooh, and I like the idea of setting the actual temperature. Kind of like setting the temperature to a bed.
We are hosts at two different campgrounds (one winter the other summer).
I set the temperatures at 103F. Lower and some say too cold. Hotter and some say too hot. Surprisingly, 85 F will feel neutral to your hand.
Old Tom
I live in Canada and I always though Hot was left and Cold was right. This is blowing my mind. Anyone else???
Oh, yeah! I’m in the middle of the U.S. and thought “They’ve got it backwards!” Anyway, here in Missouri our dials and faucets have the Hot on the left and the Cold on the right. Obviously, it’s not that way everywhere… Who knows, maybe we’re the Rednecks!
I’m from Canada and mine has hot on the left, cold on the right also. But I have seen the odd one the other way around(couldn’t tell you where).
ya im from minnesota and it is definitely cold on right hot on left
Unless the plumber put it on incorrectly.
Haha here in Australia I don’t know if I’m behind the times but I have two separate taps in my shower and have never seen a dial like that. So when you have to turn the cold tap the perfect amount, and then turn the hot tap the perfect amount, it leaves even more margin for error. Thankfully my shower is always predictably tempermental and so I’ve made mental notes of how far to turn on each tap for the perfect shower.
Must agree though, short showers due to droughts are NOT AWESOME.
Failed to achieve this one this morning. There’s a bright red burst-pattern on my chest from the one second of scalding water.
Great very Great hehehe especially when someone just had a shower and leaves the water on for you
It might be perfect, but it’s more interesting when the puppy jumps in for a piece of it too!
(Which yes does happen, and it’s as cute/annoying/shocking as you’d expect.)
Here in Indiana hot is to the left,this must be a picture of some other countrys setup.
I love being the first one to shower in the morning. If I turn on only the hot water, the temp is perfect. After the first shower of the day, the water heater kicks in and then you have to make adjustments.
I haven’t had a shower in about 2 years, my house doesn’t have one. :P I think “having a real shower” should be an extra awesome thing on its own.
Bathtubs should be made illegal so we can embrace the glorious technological advancement that is the modern shower.
Ten minutes? Oh, that is way too short. Don’t you think staying in the shower until you have totally “pruned” be much better? I do. Giddy up to soggy skin!!
I sometimes make it to hot and it becomes a steam room.
The perfect temp. Peek in and tell your showering sweetie to make room for you. Awesome!
Our shower has a system a bit like the dial, but you swing the lever around and then pull it out to turn the shower on. In other words, as long as you push it back straight down, the shower is always at the same temperature! Genius.
A bit like this:
http://www.aquabrand.com/photo/2024/lg-hansgrohe-focus-s-single-lever-shower-mixer-tap-for-wall-mounting-exposed.jpg
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my fiancee steps right on in to the shower before even turning it on. I like to risk water on the floor just so i dont get a heart attack right away. Then i step out later and leave the hot shower running to have a steam room!
When I turn on the shower it’s allay way too cold. But sometimes u walk in and it’s just perfect. Perfectly awesome!
thats epic
Just done it! :)
I think that’s awesome
Fail whoever somwone is…. U spelt your own name wrong
All Jews should die a painful death
I love when its the right temp.
Just had a shower and it was perfect temp.
AWESOME
good thing we built a large shower with exposed aggragate on the floor because our Singing Nikko dog will have it no other way…true story!
Hahaaha so truee!!! I love when that happens cuz then u dont have to keep messin with the dial!! LOL
Why don’t you just turn on the bath first so you could feel it with your hand and the turn the shower on?