I just bought a condo, and have a small problem with the shower. The
water temperature during a moderately hot shower constantly drops -
slowly, but every minute or so I have to adjust either the hot or cold
water valves. This point might be key - it always DROPS, never
fluctuates up at all.

My question is, can I purchase some sort of water temperature
regulator for in-shower use? A unit on the shower wall where you can
dial in (or digitally set) a certain temperature, and the regulator
will maintain that temperature for the duration of the shower (within
the limits of the hot water heater, of course). Price is not an issue.
I found this link to one - but I'm not sure this is what I want.
http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/0000-9056?eid=0023-000001

I don't want to change out the shower head; it's a nice "cascade" style
with a 2.5 GPM flow. The temperature is currently controlled by two
valves - hot and cold.

The hot water heater is a 50 gallon gas heater, and my heating system
uses hot water. However, I have tested this out, and even if I haven't
used the heat in the house for over 12 hours, and leave the heat off,
I still experience the temperature drop.

Extra tip for including information about installation difficulty and
expense. Also, if one knows of a standard solution to this problem
that does not involve this regulator, that would be an acceptable
answer - IF you are confident it will work.

---

Clarification of Question by dzatkovich-ga on 16 Jan 2005 18:14 PST

I live in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Should I just call any random plumbing company, then, to get a start?

I?m having to make certain assumptions about your water supplies. Add
a comment if you think these assumptions are incorrect. Since the link
is UK do I take it you are too?

The reason for the temperature dropping is that hot water is taken
from the top of the tank and becomes progressively cooler as water is
drawn off. This will apply to both cistern and mains pressurised
systems. There will be a thermostat on the hot tank but they still
exhibit temperature differential. Some in fact remains pretty cold
right at the bottom. Another factor is that the cold water filling the
tank (from the bottom) cools the hot by mixing and conduction.
Flushing a toilet often cools the shower but you say there is never
?fluctuation?. This implies that the cold is supplied from the cold
tank rather than the mains.

Your ?Plumbworld? link is for an electric shower. These work OK but
never give the volume of a good hot tank system. Sometimes a bit of a
fiddle to install and require in the region of 40 amps so that?s a
heavy duty power feed from your fuse box. Furthermore, most of them
require a medium pressure which you may or may not have. Just depends
upon the height of your hot tank -- assuming it is not a closed mains
pressurised system.

Ideally you would wish for a thermostatically controlled system such
as supplied by Plumbworld -- follow the links on this page :-

http://www.plumbworld.co.uk/64-0000

I can recommend Plumbworld, but I don?t anticipate you would wish to
do the work yourself. It really is quite a big job -- plumbing,
re-tiling, lifting floors etc. Having a browse should give you a
better idea though. Most thermostatic (and mixer taps) require a
certain pressure and you might have to install a pump too.

Before you contact contractors it is best to be know what you want,
but if you can find (by recommendation) a good company they should be
able to advise on products of their choice. Most likely your
shower-head is standard fitting so you should be able to retain it.

I cannot comment accurately upon cost because there are so many
variables. Recently however, my similar job took several days but it
was a particularly difficult situation. Unless you have another
bathroom, it might be best to take a vacation for the period because
you could be without washing facilities for some time. Luckily I was
not inconvenienced because it was only July and I didn?t need to wash
by then.

Lots more info if you want anything clarified.

Best

I should have also mentioned this link on Plumbworld which you may not
have chanced upon.

http://www.plumbingpages.com/featurepages/index.cfm

Best