Can YOU hear relative water temperature?

[SharpCat]

I find that most people don't know about this, but I think musicians are better-suited to be able to hear the difference in sound from cold to room-temp to hot water coming out of the faucet or shower head. Cold water has more of a hiss sound, and hot has more of a shussh sound. Kind of a parlor trick, but I thought it was fun.

Taught to me as a kid years ago--when installing natural gas line to a water heater or furnace, you can purge the air by listening to the whistle from the pipe--when it changes tone, the gas has reached the end and you can light the pilot or whatever.

Nowadays, I just listen when waiting for the shower to get hot before jumping in.

 

[WG Plum]

I'll have what they're having.

 

[Jeff K]

I can hear relative water temp if it's boiling. ("That water is HOT!") That's about it...

 

[5StringBlues]

I've never thought to listen to my relatives water temperature

 

[bholder]

 

[Killing Floor]

I can tell hot samba from cool jazz.

 

[SharpCat]

Nobody gave it a try?

 

[Winslow]

Something to consider is that what you're hearing may be the result of a difference in pressure and velocity, rather than temperature. Cold water comes in from the supply line, usually through an initial pressure regulator, then goes to the faucet. Hot water comes from that line too, but with some major interruptions between that regulator and the faucet: The water heater, its tank, and in recent years, an additional pressure expansion tank on the outflow pipe. Pressure and velocity differences between these two segments can be enough to cause the sound to differ, regardless of water temperature.

The same effect can be achieved with air through a straw, for example; More air, moving more quickly, produces more of a "hiss." (Along similar lines, the gas / air purge example you note can be a matter of pressure and density, rather than temperature.)

At a faucet, it would be easy to attribute the difference in sound to what one can most easily see: The "hot" and "cold" indicators. We turn each one (or move a single handle between the two), and get water from both. The different paths that water takes, and the pressure difference between them, however, can make quite a difference.

Additionally, by blending water from two sources, with differences in pressure between them, there will be pressure variances in the lines to the faucet that will stabilize as the water comes up to the "right" temperature. After these large, initial adjustments to the knobs or selectors are finished, the sound will become more consistent and steady as the pressure does the same.

 

[bassdude51]

Man! You have a great sense of hearing! I've have and have had tinnitus in my ears for decades. The constant "hiss" sound.

 

[richntiff]

I thought I was insane until this thread. Ok, I guess I still think I am. BUT - I can most definitely hear a difference when the hot water from the water heater hits the shower head in the morning. It's a very slightly different timbre. I've tested the theory on a couple occasions. and it's for certain that the tone coming from the water exiting the showerhead sounds different when it's all room temp or cold water. When the hot water gets there, it dips ever so slightly and expands a bit. Sounds crazy, but it's true.

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

I usually adjust the temperature of my shower to B-flat.

 

[coyote1]

I use my ears that way for many things. Example: filling an insulated water bottle from the filtered fridge outlet. You cannot see the water inside to know how full it is. But you can certainly hear the pitch rise as the water nears the top. Likewise a kettle of tea water has a certain’intensity’ in the sound as it gets closer to the boiling point. My cats get startled by the whistling kettle, so I use that sound instead to know when to take the kettle off the heat.

 

[LowActionHero]

Nowadays, I just listen when waiting for the shower to get hot before jumping in.

I turn the hot water on, then brush my teeth. (My water heater is old)

However, I CAN tell by the water sound that someone has turned the hot water on in the kitchen, and I have 0.7 seconds to jump out from under the showerhead...

 

[MultiScaleMale]

When I turn on the shower and I'm waiting for the hot water, you can hear a difference in the shower. Hot sounds more "focused" to me.

 

[mambo4]

I got into hand tool wood working as a pandemic hobby. One surprise was the role of hearing in working wood with hand planes
Experienced craftsmen can diagnose quite a bit by the sound the hand plane makes as it shaves across the wood

 

[matty1039]

In the mornings I turn on the water in the shower and wait for it to heat up before getting in. I can hear a difference when the water has turned hot. Same thing with water from the tap. I could not listen water and tell you if it is hot or cold, but I can hear a difference when it turns from hot to cold.

 

[SharpCat]

Something to consider is that what you're hearing may be the result of a difference in pressure and velocity, rather than temperature. Cold water comes in from the supply line, usually through an initial pressure regulator, then goes to the faucet. Hot water comes from that line too, but with some major interruptions between that regulator and the faucet: The water heater, its tank, and in recent years, an additional pressure expansion tank on the outflow pipe. Pressure and velocity differences between these two segments can be enough to cause the sound to differ, regardless of water temperature.

The same effect can be achieved with air through a straw, for example; More air, moving more quickly, produces more of a "hiss." (Along similar lines, the gas / air purge example you note can be a matter of pressure and density, rather than temperature.)

At a faucet, it would be easy to attribute the difference in sound to what one can most easily see: The "hot" and "cold" indicators. We turn each one (or move a single handle between the two), and get water from both. The different paths that water takes, and the pressure difference between them, however, can make quite a difference.

Additionally, by blending water from two sources, with differences in pressure between them, there will be pressure variances in the lines to the faucet that will stabilize as the water comes up to the "right" temperature. After these large, initial adjustments to the knobs or selectors are finished, the sound will become more consistent and steady as the pressure does the same.

Sure, different faucets, etc will sound different. But if you turn on just (say) the hot water faucet on the bathroom sink, it will sound different while cold water is coming out vs once the water has heated up.

 

[SharpCat]

Man! You have a great sense of hearing! I've have and have had tinnitus in my ears for decades. The constant "hiss" sound.

Bummer. I have it too, but it’s a couple tones, not a broad spectrum hiss.

 

[SharpCat]

I thought I was insane until this thread. Ok, I guess I still think I am. BUT - I can most definitely hear a difference when the hot water from the water heater hits the shower head in the morning. It's a very slightly different timbre. I've tested the theory on a couple occasions. and it's for certain that the tone coming from the water exiting the showerhead sounds different when it's all room temp or cold water. When the hot water gets there, it dips ever so slightly and expands a bit. Sounds crazy, but it's true.

This!!

 

[OneNut]

Most of the time I can hear the difference in the shower - turn the shower valve to around my preferred spot, wait for the tone change of the water coming out of the spigot and then I know hot water has reached my shower. I can do this even over my tinnitus.