Shower surprises

Our water here at the house is heated by a gas heater. In some ways I think this is very efficient and cool – it heats the water as you use it. There’s no risk of running out of hot water unless you run out of gas. But there are a few setbacks.

1) There is never a consistent temperature for the shower dial. Usually after a few showers, you know exactly where to turn the knob to get the optimal temperature for your body: not too hot, not too cold. Unfortunately, here this is not as uniform, depending on who turns the heater on in the morning. There’s three levels on the heater; a picture of two flames, a picture of one flame, and two scratch marks just below one flame to set the dial between. Now Andrew and I were told to set the dial between those two scratches. I have discovered (in not the pleasantest of ways) that not everyone follows that rule. I once had a horrible shower where I was being scalded the entire time only to find that someone had the heater set on double flame! Even the coldest setting was boiling!

2) There is a bit of a lag time between the heater and the faucet. When you turn the water on, it takes a second or two for the pump to kick in and the fires to begin. Not that big of a deal. It becomes a big deal when someone else in the house uses the water. For example, when suddenly the other shower is turned off, now you are the sole recipient of the water being heated – it gets very hot. Or vice versa, if someone begins their shower, they leach your hot water for a few seconds and you get splashed with some cold water.

3) Unrelated to the water heater but thought it was worth mentioning. There’s a window in the bathroom that is on the shower side of the curtain. I’m not sure how well/how much a person on outside the house can see in, but today I threw caution to the winds and did not close the window. After all, it is the sole escape for the steam. I realized after the shower that I probably looked a little childish, basking under the warm water only to have to quickly jump out of the way and almost slip to avoid it’s hellfire when the other shower stopped. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.