AARGH! Why is it that almost every time you go to use the sink, the two taps are of extreme and opposite temperatures?
I only want to wash my hands! I don't want to get third degree burns or have hands like a cold-blooded lizard. I only want some nice, lukewarm water.
This is why I think every bathroom in the world should be fitted with a third, 'tepid' tap - Not too hot, and not too cold, but just right for everyday use.-- NickTheGreat, May 08 2005 first of 11,000 hits on google for thermostatic mixing valve company http://www.leonardvalve.com/while the idea is to have one tap devoted to tepid water, I think the fact that this technology is widely known to exist puts your idea into the "wibni" or "let's all" category [ato_de, May 08 2005] This is good. There should also be a way to retrofit existing taps so that turning the knobs until you feel the thump of the preset position automatically gives you a tepid temp. (+)-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, May 08 2005 Would it be that those motion detectors used to trigger faucets were preset to prime the faucet according to a preset tepid temperature, say 30C in northern climates to 37C in southern climates, your skin temperature would trigger an adjustment of water temperature within limits of the environment.-- reensure, May 08 2005 Surely this is a mixer tap, and thus widely known to exist? Some continental friends of mine were ranting to me on this subject the other day, demanding to know what this British obsession with limiting ourselves to having 'hot' and 'cold'.-- moomintroll, May 08 2005 the Brits don't *do* comfort - we're hard and anyway, hot is for washing and cold is for - well, you know!-- po, May 08 2005 Baked. Big time. Walk into a bathroom showroom - you'll see.-- Texticle, May 08 2005 How about the tap randomizer? Is it going to be hot? Or cold! I know not!
Even better the "OCD Tap" which spews out boiling water for those who need to cleanse their hands of its horrible contamination.-- SpocksEyebrow, May 08 2005 "Baked. Big time. Walk into a bathroom showroom - you'll see"
A third tap specifically for tepid water? I doubt that.-- NickTheGreat, May 09 2005 No, not a third tap but the same tap as all of the other temperatures--an even more amazing idea. An added benefit is that use of the single extended thermal range, or "wide-band," tap reduces the tap landfill waste by fully 66%!-- bristolz, May 09 2005 [NickTheGreat], have you actually walked into a bathroom showroom as I suggested? Do so and you will find third, tepid taps gallore.
The third tap has a tempering valve that mixes hot and cold water to give the required temperature. In my country, newly installed hot taps also require a tempering valve to limit the temperature to somewhere around 50°C. I guess the tepid tap is a similar set up, only with a lower target temperature.-- Texticle, May 12 2005 I had this same idea. In New Zealand, where I live now, for some silly reason mixing taps are rare in public places. Even lot of new buildings are fitted with two separate taps, Left hand is washed with burning hot water and right one with freezing cold, or was it visa versa? Having a third tap with tepid water would be the answer if they don't want to install mixing taps. Weird people those Kiwis ;)-- Pellepeloton, Aug 05 2007 Having warm water as a mixture of hot and cold is inefficient, and having a warm water tank would be a breeding ground for bacteria. What is needed is a gas-fired warm water on demand tap.-- marklar, Aug 05 2007 One could easily address this problem by having one hot tap, but allowing it to raise to variable heights. Perhaps the pressure of the water itself could be used to telescope the tap higher as desired. As hot water falls through the air it will cool. It will, of course not get any colder than room temperature. Room temperature water might require a tap high enough to splash a fair bit, and so one might want to make the basin deep - more of a barrel on the ground I think, with the drain at floor level.-- bungston, Nov 10 2016 random, halfbakery