Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
#46
I have a comma problem
Joined: Feb 2009
Location: Fox Lake, IL (from Carrickfergus NI)
Posts: 49,598
#47
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2010
Location: Florida
Posts: 378
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
It seems that bed bugs are more of a problem here, check your hotel here
http://www.bedbugregistry.com/
http://www.bedbugregistry.com/
#48
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
We stayed at the Extended Stay in Houston TX last year while we were working there for a few weeks. I got bitten to death by bed bugs, but they never touched my husband. He wouldn't believe they were bed bugs, until one night one bit me on the end of my finger and it was so painful it woke me up. I immediately put the lamp on, and we found three in the bed.
#49
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
?
I agree - UK electric showers are abysmal compared to all the showers I've ever had here. Now, in CA, they do require you to install some flow regulator, which is not terribly limiting but - I've removed them from my shower head since I like to have skin abrasions from my shower ...
I agree - UK electric showers are abysmal compared to all the showers I've ever had here. Now, in CA, they do require you to install some flow regulator, which is not terribly limiting but - I've removed them from my shower head since I like to have skin abrasions from my shower ...
To be fair, we do have good showers. However, our electric water heater is far from both showers and the kitchen sink making for wasted water while waiting for the shower to heat up.
#50
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
Recirculating pump?
#51
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 69
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
teapot stand, or cosy for that matter
#52
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
Could be that my father in law was a plumber that all the family power showers were top notch! I did appreciate the non stop (sometimes very) hot water though.
To be fair, we do have good showers. However, our electric water heater is far from both showers and the kitchen sink making for wasted water while waiting for the shower to heat up.
To be fair, we do have good showers. However, our electric water heater is far from both showers and the kitchen sink making for wasted water while waiting for the shower to heat up.
#53
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
In my old townhouse and my current condo, the hot water is recirculated. This make the cost of building a home more expensive since hot water return pipes need to be installed. It also increase your utility bills since it is much easier and more efficient to insulate the water heater than to insulate all the hot water pipes. A hot water recirculating pump for a home is usually only about 1/25th HP so that doesn't consume a lot of power.
Obviously a trade off of energy waste vs water waste!
#55
Account Closed
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 0
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
We stayed at the Extended Stay in Houston TX last year while we were working there for a few weeks. I got bitten to death by bed bugs, but they never touched my husband. He wouldn't believe they were bed bugs, until one night one bit me on the end of my finger and it was so painful it woke me up. I immediately put the lamp on, and we found three in the bed.
Hotel rooms are cosmetically clean and that is about it, the goal is to have the room look clean, but its not really clean on a germ level, quick spray and wipe of surfaces, not nearly enough time to kill most viruses and bacteria.
Hotel rooms are just dirty places, no getting around that.
Also never ever ever use the duvet or bed spread, just use the sheets, only the sheets and pillow cases are washed between guests, the duvet or bed spread are on a as need basis, no way to wash them daily, and they are not.
Towels are of course washed between guests, but I'd suggest bringing your own since they well can have a pretty good adventure from dryer to the time they actually are placed in the room and handled by who knows how many people.
Also unless sealed in a plastic wrap, don't use the glasses and mugs in the rooms either, many times they are just rinsed out by house keeping in the room, and never washed in a dishwasher.
Housekeepers are generally expected to clean 15-20 rooms in 8 hours, so do the math and deduct breaks, and its not much time per room.
Carpets do get steam cleaned 1-2 a year or as needed, but not often.
#56
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
How does a recirculating pump work? I can imagine that it is temperature triggered, such that when the temp at some remote location on the hot-water delivery side falls too low, it forces water to circulate, returning the cooled pipe water back to the hot water tank for re-heating? If that's true, then how does one use a recirculating pump to speed up hot water delivery when you have a tank-less heater like I do? I have a tankless heater way down (40 feet below) the house, and it takes a good 90 seconds for even lukewarm water to start to flow when the faucet is turned on full (it was bad enough when I had a tank down there, but now with the tankless it's nuts). I guess you would feed the return flow into a secondary input into the tankless heater?
Obviously a trade off of energy waste vs water waste!
Obviously a trade off of energy waste vs water waste!
A recirculating pump saves water, a tankless heater saves power, you can't do both, with the benefit of hindsight, your tankless heater should not have just been plumbed where the tank used to be, it should have been moved as close as possible to the points of usage, perhaps in or near the kitchen, and this is possible because of the very small size of tankless heaters. .... In the two houses I have lived in since moving here, the water heater has been installed as far as it is possible to get from the master suit bathroom!
Last edited by Pulaski; Mar 19th 2014 at 3:19 pm.
#57
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
A recirculating pump only works when there is a reservoir of hot water i.e. a tank, to return the cooled water to.
A recirculating pump saves water, a tankless heater saves power, you can't do both. .... In the two houses I have lived in since moving here, the water heater has been installed as far as it is possible to get from the master suit bathroom!
A recirculating pump saves water, a tankless heater saves power, you can't do both. .... In the two houses I have lived in since moving here, the water heater has been installed as far as it is possible to get from the master suit bathroom!
We went to convert to tankless, but venting requirements for such devices are quite different than for tanked heaters which is why you usually see them mounted on the exterior when added at a later time. It would have been a royal PIA to install a tankless in the basement because of the different venting requirements. So installed a new tank.
BTW, newer tank heaters [at least here in California] are very well insulated and don't need additional insulating blankets. The exterior is always cool to the touch.
#58
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
Bed bugs come with the business in the hotel world, no way to avoid them, even the pricey nice hotels charging several hundred a night see them at some point. Most times nobody ever knows, so online sites are not all too accurate, and you also have people claiming there are but upon professional inspection none are found.
Hotel rooms are cosmetically clean and that is about it, the goal is to have the room look clean, but its not really clean on a germ level, quick spray and wipe of surfaces, not nearly enough time to kill most viruses and bacteria.
Hotel rooms are just dirty places, no getting around that.
Also never ever ever use the duvet or bed spread, just use the sheets, only the sheets and pillow cases are washed between guests, the duvet or bed spread are on a as need basis, no way to wash them daily, and they are not.
Towels are of course washed between guests, but I'd suggest bringing your own since they well can have a pretty good adventure from dryer to the time they actually are placed in the room and handled by who knows how many people.
Also unless sealed in a plastic wrap, don't use the glasses and mugs in the rooms either, many times they are just rinsed out by house keeping in the room, and never washed in a dishwasher.
Housekeepers are generally expected to clean 15-20 rooms in 8 hours, so do the math and deduct breaks, and its not much time per room.
Carpets do get steam cleaned 1-2 a year or as needed, but not often.
Hotel rooms are cosmetically clean and that is about it, the goal is to have the room look clean, but its not really clean on a germ level, quick spray and wipe of surfaces, not nearly enough time to kill most viruses and bacteria.
Hotel rooms are just dirty places, no getting around that.
Also never ever ever use the duvet or bed spread, just use the sheets, only the sheets and pillow cases are washed between guests, the duvet or bed spread are on a as need basis, no way to wash them daily, and they are not.
Towels are of course washed between guests, but I'd suggest bringing your own since they well can have a pretty good adventure from dryer to the time they actually are placed in the room and handled by who knows how many people.
Also unless sealed in a plastic wrap, don't use the glasses and mugs in the rooms either, many times they are just rinsed out by house keeping in the room, and never washed in a dishwasher.
Housekeepers are generally expected to clean 15-20 rooms in 8 hours, so do the math and deduct breaks, and its not much time per room.
Carpets do get steam cleaned 1-2 a year or as needed, but not often.
#59
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
A recirculating pump only works when there is a reservoir of hot water i.e. a tank, to return the cooled water to.
A recirculating pump saves water, a tankless heater saves power, you can't do both. .... In the two houses I have lived in since moving here, the water heater has been installed as far as it is possible to get from the master suit bathroom!
A recirculating pump saves water, a tankless heater saves power, you can't do both. .... In the two houses I have lived in since moving here, the water heater has been installed as far as it is possible to get from the master suit bathroom!
A traditional recirculating hot water pump is always running circulating the hot water through the hot water heater and pipes constantly. The pump doesn't need to be very powerful or large since as long as it can keep the water flowing at just above a trickle, the pipes stay hot. The pump is installed on the return line next to the hot water heater and sucks the water out of the pipes back into the hot water heater and doesn't obstruct the flow to the fixtures. On mine, the pipes coming into the pump was still very hot. Therefore you need the hot water and return pipes insulated to keep energy costs down.
Recirculation doesn't seem to use very much energy if done right since my summer energy costs were only about $40-$60 per month total for a 2,100 sf townhouse.
Last edited by Michael; Mar 19th 2014 at 3:42 pm.
#60
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 22,105
Re: Weird..the things you can't get in the U.S.
Bed bugs come with the business in the hotel world, no way to avoid them, even the pricey nice hotels charging several hundred a night see them at some point. Most times nobody ever knows, so online sites are not all too accurate, and you also have people claiming there are but upon professional inspection none are found.
Hotel rooms are cosmetically clean and that is about it, the goal is to have the room look clean, but its not really clean on a germ level, quick spray and wipe of surfaces, not nearly enough time to kill most viruses and bacteria.
Hotel rooms are just dirty places, no getting around that.
Also never ever ever use the duvet or bed spread, just use the sheets, only the sheets and pillow cases are washed between guests, the duvet or bed spread are on a as need basis, no way to wash them daily, and they are not.
Towels are of course washed between guests, but I'd suggest bringing your own since they well can have a pretty good adventure from dryer to the time they actually are placed in the room and handled by who knows how many people.
Also unless sealed in a plastic wrap, don't use the glasses and mugs in the rooms either, many times they are just rinsed out by house keeping in the room, and never washed in a dishwasher.
Housekeepers are generally expected to clean 15-20 rooms in 8 hours, so do the math and deduct breaks, and its not much time per room.
Carpets do get steam cleaned 1-2 a year or as needed, but not often.
Hotel rooms are cosmetically clean and that is about it, the goal is to have the room look clean, but its not really clean on a germ level, quick spray and wipe of surfaces, not nearly enough time to kill most viruses and bacteria.
Hotel rooms are just dirty places, no getting around that.
Also never ever ever use the duvet or bed spread, just use the sheets, only the sheets and pillow cases are washed between guests, the duvet or bed spread are on a as need basis, no way to wash them daily, and they are not.
Towels are of course washed between guests, but I'd suggest bringing your own since they well can have a pretty good adventure from dryer to the time they actually are placed in the room and handled by who knows how many people.
Also unless sealed in a plastic wrap, don't use the glasses and mugs in the rooms either, many times they are just rinsed out by house keeping in the room, and never washed in a dishwasher.
Housekeepers are generally expected to clean 15-20 rooms in 8 hours, so do the math and deduct breaks, and its not much time per room.
Carpets do get steam cleaned 1-2 a year or as needed, but not often.
I actually knew someone who, when traveling, brought her own sets of sheets/blankets for the bed. If you're traveling by car I guess you could do all of that. But traveling somewhere by plane kind of makes that idea a bit hard.