Why is Hot on the Left & Cold on Right?

Mike in Sunny Colorado

Dan,

You once wrote eloquently on this subject. Is there an archive or could you refresh my memory.

Thanks,

Mike

Weezbo

Because ,If you dont want....

the boss to be Left Hot remember its Right Cold outside!
or go any other "Creative way " and the boss will get hot, fire you ,and kick you out in the winter cold.

DanHolohan

This is from

"Hot to Teach Technicians . . . "

How come the cold’s on the right and the hot’s on the left?

You use the sink, don’t you? Hey, who doesn’t? You want to wash up so you reach down with your right hand and turn on the cold water. You ever wonder why the cold’s on the right and the hot’s on the left?
That used to trouble me (I have a lot of time on my hands!) so I went to the library and did some research. Here’s what I found out.

Back in the days before there was indoor plumbing people used to have to walk out to a well and dip a bucket on the end of a long rope down into the water. They’d then have to hump that heavy bucket of water back up to the house and heat some of it on the ol’ wood stove to make hot water. It was quite a chore.

As time went by, they brought the water indoors by way of pipes and a hand pump, which they installed next to the kitchen sink. They placed the hand pump on the right side of the sink because (you guessed it!) most people are right-handed.

When they eventually got around to bringing water mains into homes, they put the cold water faucet on the right for the same reason – most folks are right-handed. If these people wanted hot water, they still had to heat it on the ol’ wood stove because few homes had boilers or water heaters in those days.

Anyway, when the water heaters and boilers eventually arrived on the scene the plumbers had to put the hot water faucet on the left because the cold was already on the right.

Got all of that so far? Wonderful!

Now, if the cold’s on the right because most folks are right-handed, and the hot’s on the left because that space happened to be available, how come the flusher on the toilet is on the left? If most people are right-handed, shouldn’t the flusher be on the right?

Now, there’s something to think about, eh?

Here’s what I learned at the library.

The plumbers first started to install toilet bowls inside people’s homes during a time when most folks were still sitting in outhouses. There’s no plumbing in an outhouse – just a wooden seat, some corncobs or the old Sears catalog, and a very nasty hole in the ground. People did their business and got out of that stinking place as quickly as possible for reasons I’m sure you can well understand. They didn’t hang out reading the Sears catalog. Nor did they stand up to take a gander at what Mother Nature had wrought. They just got up and got out.

When the plumbing moved indoors, folks were no more inclined to examine their droppings than they were in the days of the outhouse. They just wanted to flush and get the heck out of there. The early toilets had pull chains connected to overhead water tanks, not flushers, as we know them today. Since most folks are right-handed, and since they wanted to flush while still seated, the pull chain went on the right (which looks like the left when you’re standing in front of it). Make sense? Another mystery solved!

But wait; there’s more.

If the cold’s on the right because most folks are right-handed, and if the flusher’s on the right (even though it seems to be on the left) for the same reason, how do we then explain the urinal?

That flusher on the urinal is definitely on the left, isn’t it?

How come?

I went back to the library and learned that it’s on the left because most guys are right-handed!

jim walls_3

Outhouse

Thanks Dan for stirring memories (stirring & outhouse should not be used in the same sentence :-0) It triggered (that's better) a memory of one of our many Sunday afternoon visits to my Grandparents home. They lived in a little hamlet about 6 miles out of town. Just so happened, Dad had purchased a/c for our car earlier that week. This would have been sometime around,, oh, 1963-64,,,,,,,We had this old Studebaker and the air conditioner was basically a tube with a screen on the end that you rolled up in the window like a speaker at the drive in movie.He suprised mom with it, pulling over on a country road about half way there and getting it out of the trunk and putting in the window. She was so embarrased, she made him remove it and promise never to put it in again! Of course this lead to a discussion about how spoiled we children were & "how would you like to get up in the middle of January @ 2 am and walk through snow just to go to the bathroom, to which mom promptly replied,,,,,,,,,"I'll bet you did not sit out there as long as you do now",,,,,,,,,,

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

Pure poetry

Way to go Weezbo.

There's a bit of hooptie and schmengie in us all.

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Wayne_8

Thanks Dan

Thank You, that was the best reading in a lomg time. Also very educational

bill clinton_3

got some doubts

about that explanation for the pull chain on the right because these right handed people wanted to flush while still sitting. Experimentation indicates that is a less than satisfactory procedure.

Bill

Unknown

Try it on the fly, Bill.

Like hittin' it with yer elbow as you get up, on the new version...

Noel

Ted_9

The opposite in Europe?

Can someone explain why its the hot on the right and cold on the left in Europe?

DanHolohan

Not in the parts

of Europe that I've visited. Which country are you talking about?

Ted_9

Edit: I just comfirmed that in Europe, they do it the same way.

Dan, It must have been some home owners doing those installs in Greece.

ernie_3

three rules I learned

Hot water goes to the left.
S#* flows downhill.
Payday's on fridayEarly lessons learned,
never questioned any one of them.

DanHolohan

I've been

to Italy a couple of times and the cold was on the right. Can't speak for Greece since it's on my list of places to see someday. Maybe you ran into some left-handed plumbers?

jwade55_3

You will like this one

> Thanks Dan for stirring memories (stirring &

> outhouse should not be used in the same sentence

> :-0) It triggered (that's better) a memory of one

> of our many Sunday afternoon visits to my

> Grandparents home. They lived in a little hamlet

> about 6 miles out of town. Just so happened, Dad

> had purchased a/c for our car earlier that week.

> This would have been sometime around,, oh,

> 1963-64,,,,,,,We had this old Studebaker and the

> air conditioner was basically a tube with a

> screen on the end that you rolled up in the

> window like a speaker at the drive in movie.He

> suprised mom with it, pulling over on a country

> road about half way there and getting it out of

> the trunk and putting in the window. She was so

> embarrased, she made him remove it and promise

> never to put it in again! Of course this lead to

> a discussion about how spoiled we children were &

> "how would you like to get up in the middle of

> January @ 2 am and walk through snow just to go

> to the bathroom, to which mom promptly

> replied,,,,,,,,,"I'll bet you did not sit out

> there as long as you do now",,,,,,,,,,

jwade55_3

You will like this one

Sad part, my Fiance is from Blacksville

Man hospitalized after outhouse explosion Tuesday

The Dominion Post

A man was hospitalized for burns after he lit a cigarette in a portable outhouse and the outhouse exploded.

MECCA said that at about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, Monongalia Emergency Medical Services responded to a burn call at the Clay-Battelle Community Health Center on the Mason-Dixon Highway in Blacksville.

The spokesperson said a man, whose identity is not being released, was inside a portable outhouse when the explosion occurred.

The methane gases inside the outhouse didn't "take too kindly" to the lit cigarette, the spokesperson said.

A Clay-Battelle Health Center spokeswoman said the man drove himself to the clinic.

Mon EMS workers said the man was not severely hurt but they could not comment specifically on his injuries or release his name due to privacy policies.

Mon EMS transported the man from the health center to Ruby Memorial Hospital

Cosmo_3

Imsoniac lurking on wall

Hey guys,
As probably the only guy of Hellenic descent here I can confirm that yes, left is hot and right is cold. I have been all over Greece and the previous poster must have run into a "oops, ah shucks I sure wish it was a Moen...." and thus came to the conclusion that we Greeks must use our right hand to hold on to our goat's leash as we make our deposits...
BTW how bout that Euro 2004?


Cosmo Valavanis
Dependable PHC Inc

Ted_9

Gia sou Cosmo.

I noticed this in the village my father is from. Most likely, it was how the village plumber installed the sinks.

Now heres a question> Can they really get electricuted from the electric hot water heater if you leave it on whilst still bathing? Ive been told that people die from this yearly.

Ted_9

BTW, there are more Ellines on this site than you may know. I know of at least one more, but doesnt post very often.

Joe_41

Mani

also Hellenic

Cosmo_3

Awsome!!

Yia sas pedia!!! I had no idea I was'nt alone here, what area of Greece are you from Mani, Ted? Cosmo Valavanis
Dependable PHC Inc

Ted_9

Eimai Ellinoamerikanos alla o pateras mou einai apo tin Kozani.

I love spending time in Thessaloniki though.

Weezbo

Sag gra Po. is all i know:)

Ted_9

se agapo.

Jimmy Gillies

In the UK.

The cold is always on the right, but lots of British baths have there taps fitted directly on the bath. The hot may be on the right, as the cold is always fitted at the front of the bath, to stop you from getting a burn on your arm as you draw the bath.

Regards.
Jimmy Gillies.

Jimmy Gillies

Ted.

We use lots of electric water heaters here in the UK and I've never known of anyone getting killed like that?
It may be due to poor electrical connections?

Well done to Greece for winning the Euro 2004 (soccer), what a great team.
Regards.
Jimmy Gillies.

ScottMP

Hows this

Make you feel for safty ??

Makes for a quick shower.


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S Ebels

OK Dan

Now you have to have your Wall elves install a translator function on this place. Any more of this, and I'll have to start speaking Dutch.

Weezbo

) took me over 38 years to know ha2 write it ! ) Thanx Ted

Learned it here at the wall:)

Jack_21

It isn't...always!

Cosmo_3

Hey Guys

Sorry to be absent, as you know work and life often demand all of my time and not as much time to talk to my wallies as I would like. Hey Theodoro, my parents both came from the Island of Mytilini, from a little Village in the north end of the island called Filia, which means "Friends" in English. My parents used to send me and my sister there 5-6 times to spend the summer when we were younger. I was just there in 2000 and toured the Cyclades islands, Xios, Ayios Orros, and spent a week in Athens. It is a beautiful country but I would rather live and work here in the good ole' U.S. of A. you know.....


Cosmo Valavanis
Dependable PHC Inc