“Pro's: Easy to install and calibrate. I was able to set my water heater at a much higher temperature setting to have a greater reserve of hot water for several showers without running out of hot water. Even with the higher water heater setting there is no fear of scalding someone if say a toilet or other cold water was used. Our daughter, son-in-law and infant are staying with us for a little while and I wanted to make sure the baby could not get scalded. This device meets that need very, very well. The whole house capability was the perfect option for us since retro-fitting the showers/bathtub to temperature compensating valves would have been extremely costly. I did not use the temperature sensing strip included to calibrate the mixing valve. To me a more meaningful setting is what the hottest water I want running over my hand at the faucet so that no one can be scalded by a sudden change in water temperature. Con's: The reduce volume restriction to 8 gallons per minute could possibly be an issue. If two showers taken simultaneously while laundry and a dishwasher running might be an issue but it has not been for us. Two devices could be installed in parallel to easily resolve that. Some sort of filter/strainer is a necessity to prevent becoming clogged by debris in the water supply. My experience background: 27 years facilities, property maintenance and construction.”
“Mixing valve controls hot water temperature at the faucet. Prevents scalding. You forget how much you depend on it until you go to someone else's house and turn on their hot water, and are reminded just how hot it can get. Especially if you have kids or older people in the house, who can accidentally bump the shower control knob and change the temperature setting, this device is worth it. One tip; because it mixes hot and cold water to get the right temperature, minerals dissolved in the very hot water can crystalize when the water is cooled down, and deposit minerals in the valve (if you've got hard water). My original unit gradually started delivering cooler and cooler water, as the mineral deposits built up inside. I replaced the unit (after 8 years), but when I took out the old one I realized that I probably could have cleaned out the mineral deposits and had it working right again. But they're not that expensive, so I just installed the new one.”
“I use this mixing valve to temper the cold water line feeding an upstairs bathroom. Hot water for the shower, etc is provided by an on-demand electric water heater located in the bathroom. The problem was the cold water came directly from a well and was really, really cold, like 45-50 Fahrenheit, too cold for the on-demand water heater to handle. Now the "cold" water is room temperature (70 F) and the system works beautifully. Thank you!”
