Why is the cold water always on the right side

I am thinking about changing my faucets. I think it would be easier for the average left hand person to have the cold on the left side. Is there a reason why I can't do this. I read on another board that it is a code issue. Can someone explain the code issue?

Reply to
prescot
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Safety. Hot water scalds.

Reply to
Red Jacket

What does safety have to do with this? Hot water is indicated by red tab on top of faucet blue for cold. What difference does it make?

Reply to
prescot

Reply to
Bennett Price

Truely SAFE products do not rely on the operator to observe variances to the norm. They operate passively and in expected ways.

Sometimes a guest to your house might use the bathroom in the dark. Since there is a universal assumption that cold is on the right (the original designation was probably arbitrary but now it is a Standard) that person might wash their hands only to find the wrong temperature.

If that is not a good enough reason, you would never get an inspector to sign off and if you sold the house, it would show up prominently in the home inspection report and likely result in your having to fix it then.

Some faucets do not have colored inserts but have engraved letters on handles that cannot be exchanged, some people are even colorblind (imagine that).

Nobody will arrest you for doing it but someone might sue you and win if they are scalded. Intentionally reversing hot and cold would probably be seen as negligent if it got that far.

I once stayed at a hotel that had the hot water hooked up to the toilet. For what purpose I don't know, but it is luxurious to have your butt steamed when you flush.

If you want fair treatment for lefties, try a faucet with one handle.

Reply to
PipeDown

The cold water is on the right side because the hot water is on the left...

Reply to
indago

No one has still answered the question.... There has to be a reason why cold water is on the right sidet. To just say it is because because the hot is on the left is stupid. To say it is a standard, what made the standard? To say it is a safety issue is not an answer to the question, it is an answer to a different question about someone making the assumption that the person knows that the cold water should be on the right side.

Are there any actual, real plumbers here that know why?

Reply to
prescot

Reply to
Dale Wilcox

Sorry, its still done for safety reasons. Use some common sense.

Are there any actual, real plumbers here that know why?

Reply to
Red Jacket

Are you putting in individual faucets? If it is a typical double faucet (one piece) then I would suspect that hooking up the cold water to the left side might result in a compatibility issue in that the hot water and cold water cartridges are not the same. So hot/cold water going into a faucet meant for cold/hot might be a problem--something to check out. Why cold is on the right and hot on the left?? I would guess that when indoor plumbing became the rage that was how the first plumber put it in and ever since then everyone else has followed his convention thinking that if they reversed it something would go wrong MLD

Reply to
MLD

You are right. When I was a kid my dad said the cold is on the right because most people are right handed. Therfore most would not burn themselfs. Sam

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Reply to
gosammy

The cold water is on the right because... Most people are predominantly right handed and... When a person goes to a faucet 8-10 times they are gonna use the cold water over the hot. Think about it and consider how often you reach for the cold handle versus the hot handle for common every day use, glass of water to drink, wet or dampen a rag or sponge, rinse something off real quick or if you even wanna take it a stretch farther, to rinse out a spill on clothing/important or delicate fabric that could result in a stain if left to set, and as some may or may not know, when doing so with hot water it can sometiems speed up the setting process on the item of concern.

Reply to
ncsd73

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