The Reason Hot Taps Are On The Left And Cold Taps Are On The Right

The explanation I had from my grandfather some 50 years ago was:

a. people used to have just one tap - for cold water - which was on the right as most people are right-handed; b. when this new-fangled running hot water came along (from, for example, the gas geyser) the tap for that was added to the left; and c. so a convention (of sorts) was born.

Should I put this on Wikipedia so it must be true?

By the way, in our house they are the other way around. On the other hand, as we do not have any water tanks in the loft you could at least be confident of not drinking an infusion of drowned rat.

Maybe it's because when we say 'hot and cold' , hot is left and cold is right?

mark

Of course, in Spain "C" stands for calor, hot.

And when we moved into our house they varied from room to room!

Now that I've rebuilt most of the rooms they are all consistent: hot, left; cold right.

If I ever come across the plumber (and his mate the joiner, not forgetting also his mate the plasterer) who worked on this place when it was built...

Some blame also on the original owners who accepted the pipes that bang when you turn them off, doorways that are miles out of square and walls that have 2" of plaster at the top and 0.5" at the bottom to create a truly original 'Leaning Tower of Pisa' effect on a chimney breast!

You're on a hiding to nothing there.

Everybody in the construction industry has the name of "mate". I am not sure whether they are christened with it or change it by deed poll.

I call everyone "mate" especially when apologising. That gets me into further problems when after the sorry event I discover the victim is female...

OK .... who is going to register a business as "The{District}HandyMate" ?

My office has 3 "kitchenettes" for making tea, coffee, etc.

One of them has the tap on the other side to the other two.

Just to prove the plumber's abilities they all have different taps, oriented in different directions, and in the case of the one with the long easy-use levers you can't turn the taps on full because the levers hit the wall.

But he did a *far* better job than the aircon installers...

Andy

"Mates" an OK term, what does sound offensive is "Pal"..

Even when spoken from someone up north!..

That depends what way you're looking at the taps?

Could of sworn the hot is usually on the right. :-P

Fallen asleep in the bath again? Best to place feet at the end with the taps

But the tap was in the center of the sink 50 years ago,so that rules that out.

No.

Isn't it so the hot has the shortest pipe run? I'm sure it used to be.

IIRC, US regs requires hot on the left. It may be possible to dig out the original reason for this ... Simon.

It'll be in an amendment to the constitution.

That will depend upon where your boiler or hot water tank is located. Might save a few cm

Adam

.. >>> Or is there another reason why hot is usually on the left? .. >>> .. >>> Adam

Perhaps it would help people with restricted eyesight knowing which tap is which.

Mike P

good use for Braille then

Or learning not to swear.

I always thought that the hot tap was nearest the wall, i.e. furthest away from the small child to avoid scalding. Most houses I've had were plumbed like that.

Jonathan