Minor annoyances of the "new normal"

[Perd Hapley]

Turning off the water heater would end badly for an office building, but it's possible that one could get away with it in a restaurant or convenience store. You might have a lot of customer complaints, or you might not.

mak, have you ever mentioned this to the management?

[makattak]

Turning off the water heater would end badly for an office building, but it's possible that one could get away with it in a restaurant or convenience store. You might have a lot of customer complaints, or you might not.

mak, have you ever mentioned this to the management?

I was asking myself why I hadn't done that as I was replying through this thread. Next time I encounter the issue, I'll be sure to find out.

(I'm assuming it's because it was annoying, but not annoying enough for me to go through the rigmarole of contacting management. Now that it's an annoyance and curiosity, I'll be investigating further.) 

[Balog]

I could see it in a gas station, even though it would still be pointless to do so in terms of energy savings. Restaraunt less so, as folks like to complain about everything there. Grocery store is on the edge leaning towards no.

But any normal mixed use or office space commercial building almost definitely not.

[Perd Hapley]

I could see it in a gas station, even though it would still be pointless to do so in terms of energy savings.

Why pointless?

[Boomhauer]

I could see it in a gas station, even though it would still be pointless to do so in terms of energy savings. Restaraunt less so, as folks like to complain about everything there. Grocery store is on the edge leaning towards no.

But any normal mixed use or office space commercial building almost definitely not.

Pointless doesnt mean it wont happen pf course.

The idiots I work for yell at us if we dont turn off the big flourescent lights everytime we leave the room (even if we are going to return in a minute) and they wanted us to shut off the water heaters every night and turn them back on in the morning

[cambeul41]

According to my Korean friend, in SK it's normal to just have towels in the restrooms, on a hook, for people to dry their hands.

My wife works for a Korean company and goes there a time or two a year on business. She says that the places she goes have paper towels.

[erictank]

I haven't heard of that being done, but I seem to remember hearing it recommended as a cost-saving measure for homeowners. And put on a sweater.

Mak,

If the hot water faucet yields cold water, I see three likely reasons:

The water heater is some distance away, and the hot water hasn't reached you yet.

Or there's something wrong with the water heater.

Or somebody hooked somep'n up back-ards.

Hot water in the ops building at work is literally a matter of FIVE MINUTES running the faucet. Once it's there, it'll run just about forever, but you waste literally gallons of water waiting for it to warm up. Water heater is a LOOOONG ways from any of the faucets.

[Balog]

Why pointless?

It'd be a tiny tiny fraction of your load reduced, but a significant impact on functionality.

Hot water in the ops building at work is literally a matter of FIVE MINUTES running the faucet. Once it's there, it'll run just about forever, but you waste literally gallons of water waiting for it to warm up. Water heater is a LOOOONG ways from any of the faucets.

At my last building we hooked circ pumps up to the hot water loops to help with that. It still took several cycles of the auto-faucets to get warm water over if no one had used the bathroom for a while. And that was a short (<25 foot) run, with a pump pushing it. Lotta water in the lines, not all of what comes out is on the hot side, and not that much comes out.

[Boomhauer]

Hot water in the ops building at work is literally a matter of FIVE MINUTES running the faucet. Once it's there, it'll run just about forever, but you waste literally gallons of water waiting for it to warm up. Water heater is a LOOOONG ways from any of the faucets.

The last house I had had one of those on demand tankless hot water heaters. Took 3 minutes to get hot water. But once it had hot water you could take an hour long shower and it was wonderful. Especially coming back home after an all day/night SAR mission in the freezing rain or coming home after a fire...

[BlueStarLizzard]

(in the intrest of injecting a bit of levity to this suprisingly serious conversation )

We don't have hot water in the bathroom at work, but it's not due to any attempts at having a "green" workplace or saving money.
Not long before I started working there, they had a litter of two who managed to get into the bathroom one night and eat the water hoses on the sink.
When they arrived the next morning, the entire shop was flooded. For a long time, they never turned on the hoses to that sink, and only in the past few years, did they reconnonect the cold water.

The puppies ended up named Croc 'n Dial.
:)

[AJ Dual]

It'd be a tiny tiny fraction of your load reduced, but a significant impact on functionality.

At my last building we hooked circ pumps up to the hot water loops to help with that. It still took several cycles of the auto-faucets to get warm water over if no one had used the bathroom for a while. And that was a short (<25 foot) run, with a pump pushing it. Lotta water in the lines, not all of what comes out is on the hot side, and not that much comes out.

I'd say it's this.

AND add to that the empty uninsulated drywall and metal stud constructions of most commercial structures built in the last 20 years, and stuff like unheated suspended cielings and interstitial spaces, the hot water has to overcome the rather cold supply pipe too. And and the hot water just doesn't work because nobody's willing to hold down the spring-loaded automatic fixtures, or wave their hand like an idiot under the already touchy IR sensor for five minutes.  

Epic contractor fail:

Friends had a very expensive house in NoVA built (IMHO the workmanship from their builder was shoddy all the way around...lots of "WTF?" mistakes for a million dollar home).
Somehow the master bathroom toilet was hooked to the hot water supply.  Gave a new meaning to taking a steamer.

Some builders do that intentionally in warm or steamy climates, places like VA or TX, or just when there's normal shower/bathroom steam. The warm water fill in the tank prevents cold condensation/sweating on the toilet tank that could leave stains, or water dripping to the floor.

I also see some people hooking up their refrigerator/freezer ice-makers to the hot water lines because the hot water holds less dissolved gas, and makes clearer and better tasting ice, even though it's a "waste" because now the freezer has to overcome the injection of warmth into the icemaker.

[Perd Hapley]

It'd be a tiny tiny fraction of your load reduced, but a significant impact on functionality.

Not if the sink is just for hand-washing.

It would save quite a bit of money, if stores just didn't install water heaters at all. I don't know if there's a code requirement for those, or not.

[Balog]

Not if the sink is just for hand-washing.

It would save quite a bit of money, if stores just didn't install water heaters at all. I don't know if there's a code requirement for those, or not.

I have a hard time imagining a business open to the general public not getting huge amounts of complaints if the only water source in the bathroom was straight off the domestic main cold water. And it'd never work in an office building (my personal context).

[MillCreek]

Not if the sink is just for hand-washing.

It would save quite a bit of money, if stores just didn't install water heaters at all. I don't know if there's a code requirement for those, or not.

I would think there would be a code requirement, from the sanitation perspective.

[SADShooter]

I work in a medical facility. We have restroom hot water-scalding hot on occasion. My gripe is the number of physicians and medical providers WHO DON"T USE IT!!!