WEBVTT - Why Does The Shower Get Hot When The Toilet Is Flushed?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works. Hey, brain stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Christian Sager here. Have you ever been taking a shower,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, gently scrubbing your body, maybe singing Boston's more

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<v Speaker 1>than a feeling, when all of a sudden, the water

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<v Speaker 1>becomes scalding hot, potentially burning your special downstairs area. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>here to tell you that it's not just you. But

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<v Speaker 1>before I teach you how to fix your plumbing so

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<v Speaker 1>your shower no longer scorches your flesh, please allow me

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<v Speaker 1>to first explain how the modern commode works. A common

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<v Speaker 1>configuration of pipes in homes is what is called a

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<v Speaker 1>trunk and branch system. It's like a tree with one

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<v Speaker 1>large pipe, you know, the trunk that has several smaller

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<v Speaker 1>pipes branching off to things like your sink, your laundry machine,

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<v Speaker 1>your shower, or your toilet. If one of these pipe

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<v Speaker 1>trees branches needs water, like, for instance, when you flush

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<v Speaker 1>your toilet, there's less water available for the other branches

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<v Speaker 1>on the tree. There are around three gallons of water

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<v Speaker 1>in that tank on the back of your toilet, so

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<v Speaker 1>when you pull the handle, it flushes all that water

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<v Speaker 1>to send whatever you've disposed of down the sewer pipe.

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<v Speaker 1>The tanks subsequently refills, taking water away from the other branches.

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<v Speaker 1>And here's the important part. Your toilet only uses cold water.

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<v Speaker 1>So the reason your shower gets hot is because the

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<v Speaker 1>flush toilet takes away the cold water that was available

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<v Speaker 1>in the system to mix together with the hot water

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<v Speaker 1>coming out of your shower head. And if you're like Goldilocks,

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<v Speaker 1>you probably like your shower not too hot and not

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<v Speaker 1>too cold. But without cold water in the mix, all

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<v Speaker 1>that is left is nuclear hot lava that will melt

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<v Speaker 1>your epidermis off. And it's not just your toilet that

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<v Speaker 1>can contribute to this problem. Any appliance using cold water

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<v Speaker 1>can steal it from the shower, washing machines, sprinklers, even

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<v Speaker 1>But dat's There are so are a ways to fix

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<v Speaker 1>this water temperature problem, and I'm going to present you

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<v Speaker 1>with a few. The simplest method is to adjust the

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<v Speaker 1>valve under the toilet's tank. Most of the time, these

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<v Speaker 1>can be tightened, so the toilet takes longer to fill.

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<v Speaker 1>Unless you're the kind of person who is constantly discharging

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<v Speaker 1>bodily waste, and you know that's probably something you need

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<v Speaker 1>to have looked at. You probably don't need the tank

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<v Speaker 1>to be primed immediately. This will take less cold water

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<v Speaker 1>away from the shower. A similar simple solution is to

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<v Speaker 1>place an object like a brick or I don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>a human skull inside the tank so it doesn't use

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<v Speaker 1>three gallons every time you flush. There are more complex

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<v Speaker 1>plumbing fixes available as well, like increasing your trunk's pipe diameter,

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<v Speaker 1>installing a new mixing valve, or renovating the whole system.

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<v Speaker 1>But all of those are going to cost you cash money,

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<v Speaker 1>and let's face it, if you wanted to spend that,

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<v Speaker 1>you wouldn't be listening to a podcast for home repair answers.

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<v Speaker 1>So bing bang boom, There's how your toilet works, why

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<v Speaker 1>flushing it makes shower hut, and hey, a few ways

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<v Speaker 1>you can fix it. Check out the brainstuff channel on YouTube,

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<v Speaker 1>and for more on this and thousands of other topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit how stuff works dot com