How do I lower water temperature in my kitchen sink?

[kampanagroup]

My wife and I are trying to be certified as foster parents and during home inspection, our social worker said that our water temperature in our kitchen sink is too hot. How does one lower the water temperature in the kitchen sink? I went to our water heater in the garage and all I see is a valve that says "hot, warm, cold, vacation" - is there some type of valve/button that allows me to change water temperature? Thanks for any advice.

[HayZee518]

tempering valve

the only way to pass an inspection is to install a whole house tempering valve between your cold water line and hot water tank output. that way all hot water valves will pass a mixed temperature output. you really can't depend on the tank's thermostat. This gives a rough estimate of the heat output.

[kampanagroup]

the only way to pass an inspection is to install a whole house tempering valve between your cold water line and hot water tank output. that way all hot water valves will pass a mixed temperature output. you really can't depend on the tank's thermostat. This gives a rough estimate of the heat output.

Thanks. I don't trust myself with anything plumbing (I'm a computer guy with no mechanical aptitude. If I buy the part, do you think a handyman could install it or should I pay a professional?

[FordMan59]

Water temperature

I turned our water heater thermostat down to about 125* when our children were young to help insure they didn't accidentally get scalded by hot water and liked it so well I never turned it back up. When we moved into a new home in 2010 that was one of the first things I did even though the kids were grown. Some water heaters have a temperature scale on the thermostat 100/120/140, etc. Mine has A, B, C, D with A being the hottest setting. If I recall correctly I have mine set on B and when I take a bath I place the stopper in the tub when I turn the water on that way the cold water that comes in from the pipes between the water heater and faucet helps adjust the temperature to a safe level without the risk of scalding, I never even touch the cold water and still have a nice hot bath. It's recommended to keep hot water temperatures at least 125* to kill legionella bacteria. Most water heaters have a metal plate near the bottom that's held on by two screw and if you remove the plate there will likely be a thin layer of insulation directly over the thermostat under that plate and the thermostat temperature can be adjusted with a screwdriver.

[kampanagroup]

I turned our water heater thermostat down to about 125* when our children were young to help insure they didn't accidentally get scalded by hot water and liked it so well I never turned it back up. When we moved into a new home in 2010 that was one of the first things I did even though the kids were grown. Some water heaters have a temperature scale on the thermostat 100/120/140, etc. Mine has A, B, C, D with A being the hottest setting. If I recall correctly I have mine set on B and when I take a bath I place the stopper in the tub when I turn the water on that way the cold water that comes in from the pipes between the water heater and faucet helps adjust the temperature to a safe level without the risk of scalding, I never even touch the cold water and still have a nice hot bath. It's recommended to keep hot water temperatures at least 125* to kill legionella bacteria. Most water heaters have a metal plate near the bottom that's held on by two screw and if you remove the plate there will likely be a thin layer of insulation directly over the thermostat under that plate and the thermostat temperature can be adjusted with a screwdriver.

Thanks. I will look for the thermostat temperature scale. I'm assuming I have to turn off all electric power to the water heater as I don't want to get killed by electric shock. My wife might not want me fidgeting in there. Would I call a plumber or my gas or electric technician into to do it if I didn't do it myself?

[HayZee518]

mechanical things around the house

I would think a guy owning a house would have SOME mechanical knowledge in repairing SOME stuff around the house.
Leave the screws alone that have wires going to them. the thermostat setting will be a small brass or silver knob with an arrow on it.
Just turn it to whatever setting you have. The scale might be an alpha character or a degree mark in degrees, i.e. 120 - 150 - 170 etc.
In an answer to your previous question about installing a tempering valve. - the new SHARK BITE are awesome. There's an NPT thread on one end and a compression fitting on the other that slips over the copper tubing and locks down with the compression nut.
That's for the squeemish who don't want to mess with sweat soldering with a torch.
If you are in doubt call a pro -

[FordMan59]

Thermostat adjustment

Thanks. I will look for the thermostat temperature scale. I'm assuming I have to turn off all electric power to the water heater as I don't want to get killed by electric shock. My wife might not want me fidgeting in there. Would I call a plumber or my gas or electric technician into to do it if I didn't do it myself?

Not being familiar with what you're looking for it might be a good idea to turn the power off at the breaker box going to the water heater while snooping around inside it. There are of course a couple wires that are stripped back with power on them going to the thermostat. If you can locate the thermostat there's no need to call a plumber the adjustment will only take about 5 seconds. Good luck.

[FordMan59]

Mechanical aptitude

I would think a guy owning a house would have SOME mechanical knowledge in repairing SOME stuff around the house.

Not all people who own their own houses know how to make repairs. My brother has a college degree in civil engineering and worked as a field/office/project engineer and project manager in coal mining and construction for about 30-35 years. He could read blueprints and knew how something was supposed to look, but didn't know how to do it himself. He got laid off several years ago because things in the construction field were slow and he went back to school and became a nurse. He has all this formal education and I have a high school education yet I can usually take things apart, repair them and put them back together and probably over 95% of the time my brother calls in someone to do his repairs because he doesn't know how. When I lived in NC he lived in TN about half way between my house and mom and dad's so when we'd go visit mom and dad we'd usually stop to see my brother and his wife, his wife usually had a couple things for me to do on each visit that my brother didn't know how to do. It's not that my brother couldn't have learned how to do these things, he just was interested in do it yourself projects like I am. As a child I was always the one who wanted to spend time with dad when he was working on things around the house or on the cars. It paid off in that now I do about 99% of my own automotive and household repairs. I've probably not taken any of my cars to a mechanic for repair in 15 years and the only home repair I can think of that I've had someone else preform in the last several years is having the a/c unit recharged about 3 years ago. If I'd had the tools to do it and with all the information on the internet I could have probably recharged it if I could have gotten the Freon.

[kampanagroup]

Not all people who own their own houses know how to make repairs. My brother has a college degree in civil engineering and worked as a field/office/project engineer and project manager in coal mining and construction for about 30-35 years. He could read blueprints and knew how something was supposed to look, but didn't know how to do it himself. He got laid off several years ago because things in the construction field were slow and he went back to school and became a nurse. He has all this formal education and I have a high school education yet I can usually take things apart, repair them and put them back together and probably over 95% of the time my brother calls in someone to do his repairs because he doesn't know how. When I lived in NC he lived in TN about half way between my house and mom and dad's so when we'd go visit mom and dad we'd usually stop to see my brother and his wife, his wife usually had a couple things for me to do on each visit that my brother didn't know how to do. It's not that my brother couldn't have learned how to do these things, he just was interested in do it yourself projects like I am. As a child I was always the one who wanted to spend time with dad when he was working on things around the house or on the cars. It paid off in that now I do about 99% of my own automotive and household repairs. I've probably not taken any of my cars to a mechanic for repair in 15 years and the only home repair I can think of that I've had someone else preform in the last several years is having the a/c unit recharged about 3 years ago. If I'd had the tools to do it and with all the information on the internet I could have probably recharged it if I could have gotten the Freon.

Obviously when I put "no mechanical aptitude" it is not 100% literal. I did the crown moldings around my house, I installed my wood floors, did some tile work and drywall, but when it comes to anything electrical, I'm a total novice. I've never done anything electrical and plumbing simultaneously. I've read that some people have died of electric shock because even when they thought they cut electric power, they neglected to check voltage with a reader or multimeter (or whatever it is called). I guess I could just shut the entire circuit breaker as was mentioned here.

[HayZee518]

check voltage

I worked for a power company for 20 years and a cardinal rule for us was to "check and re-check" before working on ANYTHING.
This includes 24 volt control, 120 volt circuits and 4160 three phase and 345kv power.
Test the meter on a known hot source, test your circuit, then retest the meter on a known hot source.

[pushkins]

I'm still stuck on the water temp. being to high at the kitchen sink, if it's too high there then it must be too high at any other faucet (that doesn't have scold prevention) like vanities etc...
The reality is that you cannot lower the temp. at just one fixture alone, so the real simple solution would be to turn your setting down at the tank, what is it set at now hot, warm, cold or vacation ?,,,,turn it one down on it's present setting...Wholla.

[kampanagroup]

I'm still stuck on the water temp. being to high at the kitchen sink, if it's too high there then it must be too high at any other faucet (that doesn't have scold prevention) like vanities etc...
The reality is that you cannot lower the temp. at just one fixture alone, so the real simple solution would be to turn your setting down at the tank, what is it set at now hot, warm, cold or vacation ?,,,,turn it one down on it's present setting...Wholla.

Well, it USED to be on "Hot" and I changed it to "Warm" and it didn't seem to me that there was any noticeable change in the temperature which is why I came on this forum in the first place. I wasn't sure if I was looking at the right place. I don't sense a change, but my wife says there is a change, so I'm going to get my handy-dandy thermometer and check.