O Hot Water, Hot Water, Where Art Thou, Hot Water?

When I'm chilled to the bone, the one thing that warms me up is a hot bath. And by hot I mean steam-a-lobster hot. Yes, it dries out the skin, but it's worth it. So it was with much irritation that I noticed weeks ago already that the upstairs bath doesn't put out hot water like it should. At first I thought the hot water tank wasn't turned up high enough, but when I went downstairs to take a look, I saw that it's almost at its maximum setting. To make matters worse, the water in the bathroom sink two feet away from the tub is too hot to hold your hands under. Pity I don't fit in the sink.

After some googling, I found out that behind some bathtub taps, hidden under plastic caps and behind screws, is a manufacturer's scald-guard setting that keeps people from burning themselves with water that's too hot. In our case, the scald-guard setting is keeping us from warming ourselves by making the water too cold. I've been meaning to hunt for that setting for weeks now but today, after a grumpy middling-warm shower on a cold January morning, I swore I'd really do it. Really. No time like the present.

But first, a cup of tea. To take off the chill.   

(Photo: Good Housekeeping)

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