Why is the water always freezing cold in the shower just b/c the hot water heater broke? Why not room temp?

Question

I can't understand why or how the water is freezing cold. It's 90 degrees outside so why can't the shower just be room temp? Our hot water heater broke and I can't understand why the water is so cold. It's like ice!!!

Answer 1

If you let it run for a while it just might warm up a little.

Answer 2

The very cold water is pumped out of the ground and into the water tower or reservoir your water utility uses to create water pressure.  It stays pretty cold in there.  When the cold water gets to your house, it goes either directly to the cold water tap, or to the tank of your water heater which, when its working, will heat up the water.  As you consume the hot water, its replaced by cold water, and the thermostat sensed the drop in temperature and kicks in the heating element or the gas flame under the tank.  The cold water is heated up to the temperature you set on your thermostat.   so if everything is working, you'll feel a gradual shift from warm to cold water as you deplete the warm water in the tank.  The tank is usually between 40 and 80 gallons in a single family home, depending on how many people live there and if you have whirlpool tubs or not.   When the heater fails the first sign is normally that you notice it takes a warmer setting on your faucet handles to get the water temperature you want.  By the time you realize you have a problem, you may have used up half the lukewarm water in the tank if its been sitting in a cool basement all night with no heating element or flame to warm it.   When the cold water replacing the warm finally takes over all the space in the heater, the water is just as cold as your cold water tap.  If you stop your shower and come back in a day or two, the water will be closer to room temperature in the basement or utility room, but it may take days to get there because the tank is usually insulated, which keeps in the cold as effectively as it keeps in the warm.

Answer 3

The earth is a consistent 56 F below about two feet. The water lines are about five foot underground so the water is 56 F the insulation on the tank prevents the air in the room from warming it up

Answer 4

For one thing, room temperature water would still seem freezing cold to most people.  73 degree water is very cold if you are taking a shower in it.

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Answer 5

When the Hot water tank  is without heat it become a storage container that holds water. Usually it is in a dark space or back room or basement where it is cool. The water will be the warmest when it first comes out of the tank and that may be around 76 degrees and as more water enters the tank the temperature drops very fast. Every time  you use water in your house water is being pumped into the container to replace the water being used. The incoming water is coming from the ground, outside pipe lines are in the ground or from a pipe line back to the street. All the waterlines are in the ground at least three feet deep and are carrying cool water.

  When you start your shower the water is being forced out of the Water Heater and replaced with incoming cool water The cool water mixing with the water already in the Water Heater is cooler  and on top mixing and going out Soon the cool water coming into the house, then the Water Heater and out to the shower head is as cool as the water that is outside in the water pipe three feet down. Water that is coming in could be 70 - 75 degrees degrees or cooler depending on the area but 70 degrees is cool opposed to the regular setting of 120 degrees . Some people have their Hot Water temperature set above this and sometimes are caught off guard as they step inside and receive burns from the water that is too hot. Water set at 140 degrees will give a burn. The plumbing industry is asking manufactures of  Hot Water Heaters to be preset at 120 degrees and If the setting is increased it is at the homeowner risk. In the summer we have summer showers outside that are Spring fed and the temperature straight out of the ground is around 70 degrees.