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Post by penny on Oct 26, 2014 21:13:50 GMT
My water heater has crapped out (think it's the thermocouple), and they're coming tomorrow morning to fix it... They asked if I could wait until the morning and I said it wasn't a problem - excuse not to do the dishes, not to do any heavy cooking, and if I'm a day ripe tomorrow it's not like they don't know why...lol But then I go to wash my hands and think, "well, huh - this isn't fun..." So my dumb question: is there a way to keep some warmish water available? I can heat/boil water, but I'm wondering if there's an obvious trick I'm missing about keeping some warm water around... My first world lifestyle and lack of camping experiences are showing - I'm thinking (hoping) there's got to be a simple life hack that I'm not aware of... On the plus side, I did learn that I'm helping the environment by using cold water...lol www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/washing-your-hands-in-hot-water-wastes-energyand-doesnt-make-them-any-cleaner-than-cold-180948176/ETA the text of the article I linked  "When you go to wash your hands do you use cold or hot water? Most people prefer hot—a habit that's hurting the planet. According to a recent study from Vanderbilt University, if Americans turned down the heat when washing their hands they could save 6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. That's the same amount of CO2 that the United States lead industry puts out in the same period. It's about how much CO2 the entire country of Barbados emits. Amanda Carrico, the lead author on the paper, surveyed 510 people about their hand washing techniques and then estimated how much energy they were using. Most people—64 percent in the study—prefer to use hot water when washing. When you multiply that by the eight billion times Americans wash their hands each year, and how much energy it takes to heat that water, you wind up with a surprising amount of energy—0.1 percent of the total annual emissions of the United States. People think that using hot water to wash their hands is more hygienic, but Carrico says that's not really true. “Although the perception that hot water is more hygienic is based in some factual evidence ... there are few, if any, hygienic benefits of using warm or hot water to wash one’s hands," she writes. The amount of heat required to kill bacteria is far higher than what your hands can withstand. So next time you're washing, turn down the heat." |
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Post by beepdave on Oct 26, 2014 21:16:34 GMT
Maybe you could pass some through the coffee pot and keep it warm there for just such an occasion as washing hands? Or a carafe/thermos?
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tiffanytwisted
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you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave
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Post by tiffanytwisted on Oct 26, 2014 21:17:31 GMT
Can you put some containers of boiling water in a cooler? That should maintain the temp for a little while.
Good luck til they get there tomorrow!
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Post by anxiousmom on Oct 26, 2014 21:18:59 GMT
I was always told that the temperature of the water that you are washing your hands with is more about comfort than it is about effective germ killing. Effective hand washing is about the use of water, soap, the length of time you wash and the correct hand washing technique (i.e. not just sloshing the soap around while essentially wringing your hands together.) So read up on correct technique and don't worry about trying to keep warm water around for hand washing. |
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Post by betsy on Oct 26, 2014 21:21:20 GMT
You don't need hot water for washing your hands. Soap and cold water are just fine.
If you need hot water for something, you can use your stove top, microwave or a Keurig-style coffee maker.
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Post by Merge on Oct 26, 2014 21:23:13 GMT
Anxiousmom is correct. Any water hot enough to kill germs would also scald you. Soap, water and vigorous rubbing.
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Post by scrapsotime on Oct 26, 2014 21:39:01 GMT
I think the OP isn't concerned about the temp not killing the germs, it's more of a comfort thing.
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iowgirl
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Post by iowgirl on Oct 26, 2014 21:45:07 GMT
My hot water heater was out for a week and a half (hope you get the right parts - it took several shipments for the right one to get to me!)
I used my big Pampered Chef batter bowl and I would microwave water in it. It only takes a few minutes to heat up some water that way. I used that for doing dishes and washing my hands.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 20:57:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2014 21:45:30 GMT
when you are roughing it you don't expect hot water on demand for anything. You plan ahead and heat what is needed as it is needed. Put a cup of water in the microwave and a minute later you have hot water. If your tap water is coming in really cold you can set a pitcher out on the counter to come up to room temp. But mostly you'll either learn to endure the cold or wait a minute to get it warmed up.
eta: You can get a "portable solar shower" that is essentially a black bag you hang in a sunny location. The sun heats the water in the container. But I don't know how sunny you are right now or how well it works is the air temp is on the cooler side so the air temp can cool as fast or faster than the sun can heat it.
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Post by penny on Oct 26, 2014 21:59:31 GMT
I think the OP isn't concerned about the temp not killing the germs, it's more of a comfort thing. This It's completely a comfort thing... It just made me wonder how people did it the the 'old' days or out camping - if there was a trick/hack to keeping warm water on hand |
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Post by penny on Oct 26, 2014 22:02:51 GMT
when you are roughing it you don't expect hot water on demand for anything. You plan ahead and heat what is needed as it is needed. Put a cup of water in the microwave and a minute later you have hot water. If your tap water is coming in really cold you can set a pitcher out on the counter to come up to room temp. But mostly you'll either learn to endure the cold or wait a minute to get it warmed up. eta: You can get a "portable solar shower" that is essentially a black bag you hang in a sunny location. The sun heats the water in the container. But I don't know how sunny you are right now or how well it works is the air temp is on the cooler side so the air temp can cool as fast or faster than the sun can heat it. It's frosty here this time of year, but the solar shower thing is cool - always wondered how campers did that |
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Post by Jockscrap on Oct 26, 2014 22:03:42 GMT
Have you got a Thermos flask?
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Post by moonglowe21 on Oct 26, 2014 22:08:29 GMT
Could you keep some water warming in a crock pot? Maybe turn it to high to heat it then down to low once it's warm?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 20:57:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2014 22:17:26 GMT
I was always told that the temperature of the water that you are washing your hands with is more about comfort than it is about effective germ killing. Effective hand washing is about the use of water, soap, the length of time you wash and the correct hand washing technique (i.e. not just sloshing the soap around while essentially wringing your hands together.) So read up on correct technique and don't worry about trying to keep warm water around for hand washing. I've heard this too. Which is reassuring as at work I work in an older building on a college campus and we are lucky if the water gets even lukewarm. It will get hot. If you let it run for at least five minutes.  |
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Post by penny on Oct 26, 2014 22:27:08 GMT
Could you keep some water warming in a crock pot? Maybe turn it to high to heat it then down to low once it's warm? Yes!!! You're genius - thank you!! |
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Post by penny on Oct 26, 2014 22:30:24 GMT
Thought I'd post the article I linked since it talks about the temperature/germ thing When you go to wash your hands do you use cold or hot water? Most people prefer hot—a habit that's hurting the planet. According to a recent study from Vanderbilt University, if Americans turned down the heat when washing their hands they could save 6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. That's the same amount of CO2 that the United States lead industry puts out in the same period. It's about how much CO2 the entire country of Barbados emits. Amanda Carrico, the lead author on the paper, surveyed 510 people about their hand washing techniques and then estimated how much energy they were using. Most people—64 percent in the study—prefer to use hot water when washing. When you multiply that by the eight billion times Americans wash their hands each year, and how much energy it takes to heat that water, you wind up with a surprising amount of energy—0.1 percent of the total annual emissions of the United States. People think that using hot water to wash their hands is more hygienic, but Carrico says that's not really true. “Although the perception that hot water is more hygienic is based in some factual evidence ... there are few, if any, hygienic benefits of using warm or hot water to wash one’s hands," she writes. The amount of heat required to kill bacteria is far higher than what your hands can withstand. So next time you're washing, turn down the heat. |
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Post by penny on Oct 26, 2014 22:35:24 GMT
Thanks everyone |
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gloryjoy
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Post by gloryjoy on Oct 26, 2014 22:57:58 GMT
Diapers wipes work great for washing your hands when you don't have water, or are trying to conserve it.
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Post by johna on Oct 26, 2014 23:07:38 GMT
I will second the crock pot. Whenever one of us is sick, I always heat water in the microwave, to get it initally hot and then pour it into my smaller crockpot so stay hot. It's great for refilling our hot tea without having to heat up the water in the microwave every time.
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Post by beepdave on Oct 27, 2014 1:18:13 GMT
I love the crock pot idea, too! I had a small crock pot when my son was a baby and I kept that set to warm and put his bottles in there to warm them during the night. It worked so well!
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likescarrots
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Post by likescarrots on Oct 27, 2014 1:57:00 GMT
I prefer washing with cold water because warm/hot really dries out my hands.
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