My house water pressure is too high?

[DriveHard]

sounds like you have a leaky regulator. It is trying to do its job, regulating the main supply while there is flow, but when there is no flow, it is not sealing correctly, and allowing slow leakage from the high pressure source to your lines. My guess would be contamination that is obstructing the seat of the valve. Replace the regulator, and you should be good to go IMHO.

 

[brianl703]

Yes. Tomorrow.

What's magic about 70 psi? Our regulator has a range of 25-75 psi and was supposedly set at 50. A cheap gauge can easily be off 5 psi. We've been here 4 years and haven't thought the pressure was too low.

70 PSI flows more than 50 PSI. Helpful when waiting for hot water.

 

[DriveHard]

70 PSI flows more than 50 PSI. Helpful when waiting for hot water.

While the higher pressure has impact on flow rate, I doubt you would notice much a difference in the amount of time to get the hot water from the heater to your faucet.

 

[hrv]

Here in Louisville the PRV is located before the water meter so they fix it...I had mine replaced a few years ago...they do go bad over time...anything after the water meter heading into your house is yours to repair...

 

[DwightFrye]

I had to replace the pressure regulator twice in my condo. The pressure regulator was in the garage and was my responsibility. I didn't even know it was too high until I needed a new water heater and the installer told me. And charged me $300 to replace the regulator which was like the one that doitmyself posted above.

Fast foward another ten years and I needed another water heater. And the installer again told me my pressure was too high. I told him I'd fix that item myself. I bought a pressure gauge to make sure he wasn't BS'ing me. Yep it was about 110 PSI.
I went to Home Depot, bought the new regulator and some pipe dope and 15 minutes and about $100 later I had a new regulator.

Someone told me that hard water deposits eventually cause the regulators to fail. Probably true as the water in my condo was horrible.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

Alex, I'll take "Things you'd never hear me saying for a thousand, please."

 

[AZjeff]

70 PSI flows more than 50 PSI. Helpful when waiting for hot water.

We have hot water re-circulation.

 

[brianl703]

While the higher pressure has impact on flow rate, I doubt you would notice much a difference in the amount of time to get the hot water from the heater to your faucet.

I did notice a difference when I increased the pressure from 40 PSI to 70 PSI. The only reason I ran it at 40 PSI was to reduce the amount of water used during a shower, and then I found a valve you can install on the showerhead to do the same thing.

 

[brianl703]

We have hot water re-circulation.

I just turn on the bathtub faucet which flows quite a bit more than the shower, and the hot water is there within 10 seconds or so.

 

[alarmguy]

You need an expansion tank on your water heater.

That was my first thought too. No question in my mind either. I can bet he doesnt have the same issue in the hot summertime.
He could shut off his water heater run it cold and see if it happens again if he wanted to play around with it.

I have city water supply and keep mine set to 70 PSI which is safely below the 80 Psi threshold.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

I just turn on the bathtub faucet which flows quite a bit more than the shower, and the hot water is there within 10 seconds or so.

Yes, those Roman Tub Faucets are the bomb. Bringing 15 GPM back to the modern bathroom.

 

[brianl703]

Yes, those Roman Tub Faucets are the bomb. Bringing 15 GPM back to the modern bathroom.

Let's just hope the cats don't figure out how to turn it on.

 

[nomas]

While the higher pressure has impact on flow rate, I doubt you would notice much a difference in the amount of time to get the hot water from the heater to your faucet.

 

[DriveHard]

Surprising?

Most faucets, showerheads, and really anything that uses water inside a house has a regulator of some sort (even just a fixed orifice sometimes) to regulate flow. Just increasing pressure won't get you that much more flow at the output due to these government nannies, and you won't see that much of a difference in flow rate.

You have to evacuate the hot water line of the now room temp water before you get hot water...to change the amount of time for hot water to "arrive" at you faucet you need to insulate the lines so that the water sitting still in the lines doesn't get to room temp, or substantially increase flow rate, so you evacuate the lines more quickly.

There is a this option that my previous home had that was to have a tiny line that continuously flushed the hot water line with new hot water. We had a 5 story home with the hot water heater in the second floor, and it was nice to get instant hot water to the upstairs bathroom instantly. It also had lines running through the tile floor for passive heating in the upstairs bathroom.

 

[brianl703]

Most faucets, showerheads, and really anything that uses water inside a house has a regulator of some sort (even just a fixed orifice sometimes) to regulate flow. Just increasing pressure won't get you that much more flow at the output due to these government nannies, and you won't see that much of a difference in flow rate.

Yes, it will. I noticed a huge difference in flow rate at 70PSI vs 40PSI on all of my plumbing fixtures. As I noted previously, in an attempt to reduce the amount of water I used during a shower, I set the pressure to 40PSI, but that reduced the flow everywhere else too. I found a valve that's installed between the showerhead and the pipe, and use that to reduce the flow, and increased the pressure back to 70PSI.