HELP! How can a shower be fixed so it doesn't freeze us when neighbors turn theirs on?

Question

My child and I get an icy shower when the neighbors above us turn their shower on. Even when I don't hear them turn any water on, a regular 10 minute shower last much longer because we have to step back and let the water rewarm itself off and on. This sometimes happens with the hot water and could be dangerous. The maintanence guy came and said all he could do was turn the building's water pressure up, but this has not helped.

Answer 1

Install or have someone install a mixer valve in your shower. When the pressure drops on the hot side, it immediately adjusts on the cold side. The problem you're having is that the neighbor is closer to the larger pipes on the hot side. Mixer valves can be difficult to install without experience. They may need to remove the wall behind the shower, unless there is an access point. Maybe your building mechanic will install it for you if you charm him the right way. You can buy them at Home Depot or Lowes, or Apex, if you have one in your area. If you can't get the maintenance guy to do it, I suggest calling a plumber.

This has nothing to do with any tankless systems or hot water heater sizes anything like that. It's simple: pressure distribution. Water pressure releases at the point of least resistance. Most apartment buildings (as in, inside access, industrial buildings) use a central boiler system that supplies water to all the apartments. I've dealt with this problem many times. This is especially true for older buildings. Back a few years ago, they weren't installing mixer valves on showers during construction.

Answer 2

First, the maintenance man is incompetent, increasing the pressure will only make the water colder if the heater is too small, that's if he can increase the pressure, probably just playing you. Most of these landlords keep the temperature too low to save on energy, but it is possible that he doesn't know of the problem because the maintenance is covering up from doing repairs. There's not enough information to diagnose the problem, you need to know what type of water heater, size of the complex, etc.. I would first attempt to get the neighbors and have a conversation with the owner, don't single yourself out until you have to. If that doesn't work, your only recourse is a complaint to the local housing authority. Your paying for hot water, you shouldn't have to make a schedule to take a shower! Good Luck! Edit; if the problem was purely a balancing situation, it would sometimes turn too hot, questioner stated it was always colder and over time came back to temperature. You want them to just slip in a new valve, if the questioner wanted to do that, they wouldn't be asking on Yahoo. Don't give up the guitar thing, dude!

Answer 3

Ahh Number 1 & 3 Combined! Possibly Blast Out Something Like Big Balls- AC/DC Whilst You Tell Her About Your Missing Undergarments. You Should Steal There Underpants Too, And Parade Them On Your Street Over The Top Of Your Trousers. ;) BA: Ooooh Warm Baths When I Just Cannot Be Bothered Having A Shower. I Like Hot Showers Though. BA2: "You Need Cooooolin Baby Im Not Foolinnn Im Gunna Send Yaaaa Back To Schoolinnn.."

Answer 4

Im a plumber and this sounds like they have a tankless hot water tank.
Or they have a return pump thats not working correct.
Either way most citys and states if you live in a Apt you should have your own HWT if its a house and you share it then thats different.
Ask the Maint-Guy if its a HWT or a Tankless system
Then drop me a line at [e-mail] and I will tell you what to tell him so he can fix it.
Most people dont know how to ADJ the tankless systems and if its a standard HWT they dont know either he is only a maint-guy not a plumber.
I could give you a LONG answer cuz there could be alot of thigs wrong so just drop me a line.
Also you should have the Landlord put in a balance valve in the shower unit this will make sure the water does not go to cold or to hot for you and cause problems or burns.
This kind of unit you can get a whole new shower unit or they have 1 that you can install in the water lines going to the shower unit and most people dont know that either
Goodluck
I Have to add this since someone thinks tankless systems will not cause this problem
There can be many problems with your system and 1 is a tankless system. Its true many older buildings have there problems but with the info in your question its hard to answer.
I dont know how old your building is or how many units are on the system. But a mixer valve will only do so much.
PS- to the person who said thats there is no way its a tankless proble. (sorry to tell you in the last year I have fixed 22 of them that had this problem with and without return pumps) You should know as a plumber anything can happen and never overlook anything. I Have been doing this for 20yrs and I will be the 1st to say I dont know everything cause something happens everyweek something shocks me.

Also I looked at your little thing you wrote about yourself You have done alot Its shocking you have not been in space yet and only being 26 yrs old. I was doing plumbing right about the time you
were potty training.
Also I would like to add I dont 99% of the time get mad at other answers or other people they have there own ideas of things.
But when I know for a fact there is something wrong I cant see not saying something. I have a very high rate of best answers and I have a ton of E-mail from people all over the USA that I help out day to day.
The reason I do this and help Is I Have worked my way up from nothing And was very poor And If I can help people out and save them some money it will help them out and maybe give them the break they need.
But I Am sorry for how I wrote the comment too that answer that was givin and I could of done a edit and took it out But Im not gonna since others have seen it. So I sorry but You are not correct.
Plus with what info that was in the question if anyone reads it she says its warmer then colder even when she hears no other water running and if anyone knows anything about tankless heaters they would say this could (could) be a problem But as with most ?'s they never give all the info or dont know the info that is needed to get a correct answer.
Note to person who sent ? Im not saying you dont know anything Im just saying you sent a ? as best you could and most people dont know about the workings of there apt its not there job to know it. It was a very good question to ask but just short of some info

Answer 5

I would go along with the owner trying to save by having the hot water turned to low. Make a deal with the neighbors about time periods for showers or try to take your ahead of them.
If it were me I would stroll to the basement and see what the setting is on the heater.
It could be the heater was a special when they bought it, a "Builder special" they called them, undersized, under weight, and under priced. I don't know how many units are in the building or what you should have but for a household of five you should have a 140 gallon unit for comfortable use.
The condos we had, had 250 gallon fast recovery units and had the washers with them, we never run out of hot water.

I don't know what you can do legally, or ? live with it or move.

Answer 6

It sounds like you live in an apartment complex where the hot water heater is inadequately sized. There's not a whole lot you can do other than complain to the manager. A larger water heater with a larger tank would help a lot, but this is not your responsibility. Perhaps your neighbors have the same problem. You might talk to them and perhaps organize a petition to the management. There is power in numbers.

Answer 7

The water tank is not large enough capacity for the periodic demand. Move to a place with an 80 gallon tank, or shift your shower time to either morning or evening. Avoid the same usage time as your neighbor. You might even ask them when they might use it most, and work together on a solution.

Beetch at your slumlord too!

Answer 8

i think they need to get you a new shower faucet that is pressure balanced. that keeps the hot and cold water even so you don't chill or burn. tell them to fix it or you'll sue if one of your family gets injured. i'd also check with the local housing dept., i'll bet that would get the landlords attention. good luck.

Answer 9

Find where your hot water heater is turn it up about twenty minutes before you shower. then turn it down before anyone notices.

Answer 10

talk to your land lord,, this is unacceptable and dangerous... he will probably give you the lip but insist he fix it or you need to find help.. there are laws and most landlords try to evade them...his plumbing and building is not up to code,,,,