Does anyone know anything about Thermostatic Mixing Valves, and whether one would be suitable for an outside tap to provide warm water to wash the dog with? I'm thinking I'd connect the hot & cold feeds to the TMV (inside the house), then set the temp accordingly and chuck a tap on the end (outside the house).
I've seen some TMVs on ebay for under £25 which sounds reasonable.
Thanks, Ant
Sounds fine have a hot and cold tap on the outside.
No problem at all. Just make sure you put a reliable isolating valve after the TRV for winter decommissioning. Also, ensure that the supplies are at the same pressure (i.e. both gravity or both mains), or it won't mix very well. If gravity supplied, it won't run a hose very well, but will still be fine for washing. Mains pressure would be ideal.
I intended to do something similar myself, but never got round to it. I was more concerned with running my foaming hot brush for car washing and filling paddling pools.
Now I just use an adaptor on the kitchen mixer and take the hose from there, although the kitchen gets a splash when the hose occassionally flies off... Both hot and cold are mains pressure.
Christian.
I've done exactly this for a client to wash their dog with. Used a £50 TMV from screwfix IIRC, which is happy with unequal pressure supplies. Since the hot water side is gravity fed and each inlet of the TMV has a check valve and there's another check valve on the outlet side (to comply with water regs) the pressure is not great, but enough for the purpose.
Warm water? Dog?
Pah - when I were a lad..........
Sticking a bung hose over the mixer at the kitchen sink, then throw the hose out the window. It does the same thing cheaper and with less hassle. That's unless you're starting your own dog washing business.
Just chuck in in the nearest stream every now-and-then. Works for me! (The dog, you understand; I have a nice hot shower!)
But seriously, why not? Good plan, might make car washing less unpleasant through the cold months too!
Andrew
No. Mains pressure cold water and (probably) hot water supplied from the cold ater storage cistern. Cold HP water will go up LP hot pipes, no warm water and the storage cistern overflows.
On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 20:29:49 +0000, Andrew Chesters strung together this:
That's why I've got hot and cold outside taps!
Funny you should mention this BigWallop. Locally there is a chap and a van who will does just that. BobS
"Lobster" wrote | Ant Seddon wrote: | > ... an outside tap to provide warm water to wash the dog with? | Warm water? Dog? | Pah - when I were a lad..........
t' neighbourhood were so tough even t' dogs used to go round in pairs.
I used to have care of two dogs, one of whom was quite happy to go in the shower with the nice warm water, but the other one objected to the noise of the water going through the electric shower unit and got upset - and being in a shower cubicle with a wet upset weimeraner isn't the best place to be - so he had to make do with being tied to the loggia and hosed from the outside tap.
Owain
Thanks for all the replies. I know the solution may sound a bit extreme, but washing the bottom half of a very mucky Golden Retriever is becoming a twice a day business and I'm damned if I'm doing it in the cold with cold water!
The cold water is mains pressure, and so is the hot (coming from a combi boiler). I think I'm going to go ahead with it, with an isolating valve after the TMV for very cold spells as suggested.
Thanks for all the replies!
Ant
Tha' cood tell a strange dog in t'naebourhood. Tha usually had two ears.
We have a little cavalier king charles spaniel who loves the shower, but his big mongrel mate here hates even the rain. Yet, he'll happily chase fish with his nose in the sea, he won't go out if it's raining. He's a right weirdo, but we love him. :-)
There's a petrol filling station near here which, as well as a car wash, has a dog wash. I've never taken Gromit to it yet, but I understand it has an outside thermostatic mixer valve.
I don't think it has a wheel scrub and a wax/dry function, though :-)
We used to have an English setter when I were a lad, we got him when he was grown but he HATED being washed, scared him witless. First time we washed him we did it in the back garden and from that time on he would not go there if anyone else was there and would run away if we appeared. To wash him. You had to get his lead and pretend he was going for a walk, then tie him to the letterbox (this was NZ) and only then could water be introduced. Once tied he would stand there looking abject and shiver uncontrollably, from the moment of tying to when let free. On letting him go he would prance around like a puppy for 10mins in joy at being free.
When the car was washed he would run away unless tied up, if he was tied he would retire to his kennel and shake. We never found out what was the cause of his problem though.
Peter
Surely that was simply the fact that he was a setter ;-)
We have a spaniel - which doesn't need to be scared witless, because she already is (witless, that is). She's always been terrified of water of any description, which is bizarre for a breed bred for retrieving (and no, any bathing is done with warm water in the bathtub!).
Unlike the labrador we had as kids, who would scream to get out of the car when we went anywhere near water; would swim underwater like an otter to retrieve rocks from river beds; and once hurtled straight out of the car and over the edge of a high sea wall because she saw the sea... but the tide was unfortunately out... distraught, we all ran to the edge to look over, expecting to see crumpled dog at the bottom of the wall; but no - there she was, streaking down the beach to the water
500 yards away, totally unharmed.
As long as you have isolation valves on the H & C feed to the mixer (i.e. indoors), and put anti syphonic double check valves valves in -line then this should meet Water by-laws. I would also put a drain T after the shut off valve so you could drain the line in winter to prevent freezing - this may also be a by-law requirement (can't remember)
You can get push fit or compression versions of all of the parts.
i.e.
Hot ---------X---------T---->>------\ \
O------------|| ||--Tap / Cold---------X---------T---->>------/ wall
X= shut off valve (eg appliance valve) T= drain T
HTH - Rick
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