Automatic Hot Water Reduction to Control Long Showers

[sms]

I have a problem with certain family members and exceedingly long showers. Pleading and screaming has no effect. The water bills and the gas bills are outrageous.

I've seen some commercial products that control long showers but they are poorly reviewed and expensive.

I was thinking of a solenoid controlled valve on the hot water line of the shower. I'd plumb in a bypass to keep a tiny amount of hot water going in, but cut off the bulk of the hot water with a valve like this: (rated to 80°C).

To trigger the micro-controller that controls the valve I'd use a flow sensor such as (rated to 100°C). A dishwasher valve would also work.

So basically it would be a flow sensor and a solenoid controlled valve in series with the hot water line, and a bypass with a manual valve.

[LdB]

My daughter did the same. I reduced the temperature of the hot water tank over a few weeks time. She still stayed in the shower until the hot water ran out but then it ran out a lot sooner.

I got used to the somewhat less than scalding hot water and still keep the water temp at the lower setting.

Buy the way, I didn't tell my wife what I did. It is true, silence is golden. :)

LdB

[mike]

This is an attempt to solve a social problem with technology. It's a catch-22. If you can't control them with words or other sanctions, they'll just find a way to get back at you for your technological solution. Probably easier to put a humidity or temperature sensor on an air-raid siren.

Teach them how to pleasure themselves before they get into the shower.

[Roy]

½C). A

I had one daughter who hogged the shower and I solved this by going down to the basement and slowly closed the hot water valve to the bathroom. When the screaming stopped as the cold water hit, I opened the valve a bit. She soon learned to play fair and allow others thei r turn in the bathroom. ===

[sms]

That's what I do now, but it's a pain to do this manually every time.

I could also forgo the flow sensor and just attach a temp sensor to the hot water pipe by the shower and sense an increase in temperature to start the timer on the micro-controller going.

The hassle is that I have to plumb in the valve. But it backs up to closet so I can put in an access panel to get to the plumbing.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Hey, me too. I did the same thing for a long time. Daughter eventually married and learned to pay bills and take shorter showers to reduce bills.

[sms]

Timer controlled valves for showers are pretty common since they're used for coin-operated showers at campgrounds, etc. .

What's different is that I would not use a timer controlled by coins or tokens, but one that starts when the hot water begins to flow and that cuts the hot water supply after a certain number of minutes.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per sms:

Changing showers to coin-operated plus upping everybody's allowance by an amount equal to the expected normal shower time per week would be the solution I'd expect to work.

Let her feed quarters into the thing to her heart's content.... but after a certain point, they're going to be *her* quarters.

[Stormin Mormon]

Some way to get the daughter to pay the fuel bill, and then she will have an interest.

[Dean Hoffman]

Plus she keeps any extra shower money to spend on whatever.

[Stormin Mormon]

I like it. Allows her to take ownership of her own behavior. Bravo!

[Dean Hoffman]

Ya know, we are guilty of profiling. We, me, assumed sms was talking about a teenage daughter. SMS never identified the culprit.

[DerbyDad03]

That reminds me of an apartment I lived in. Instead of expensive coin operated washers and dryers, the owners installed a coin operated power controller, which was really nothing more than a timer. The cord for the standard washer and dryer each went into a coin box. The sign said $0.75 per load. As soon as the third quarter was inserted, the power came on and stay on for a set number of minutes.

I learned early on that if you added a quarter during the cycle it would extend the time. If you were ready to switch loads as soon as the first one was done, you had just enough power to do 2 loads for $1.00. If you were a little late, it might cost you $1.25.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Dean Hoffman :

I also plead guilty as charged.

But I'd still put money on it's being a daughter.

[DerbyDad03]

If you are wrong will you put that money towards paying for the offender's long showers?

[Stormin Mormon]

I was not able to find the old messages on my machine. But, that's also my guess.

[sms]

Son.

[sms]

I've seen that too but it makes little sense. The reason that the commercial machines are more expensive is not the coin slide it's that they build them with much more rugged components in order to have them stand up to continuous use.

[sms]

You lose.

[Stormin Mormon]

My apologies, sorry.