Good point about the mineral buildup, that's often overlooked. Did you notice a big improvement in water pressure overall after cleaning out the pipes, or was it mainly just temperature consistency?
Cleaning out the mineral buildup definitely helped with temperature consistency for me, but honestly, I didn't see a huge jump in water pressure. It was maybe slightly better, but nothing dramatic. A few thoughts from my own experience:
- Mineral buildup mostly caused fluctuations in temp rather than pressure drops.
- Pressure issues usually came down to old valves or partially clogged showerheads.
- Replacing the showerhead with a low-flow model actually improved the feel of pressure for me, surprisingly.
One thing I'd be cautious about if you're going to tackle pipe cleaning: make sure you shut off your main water supply before messing around with anything. Learned that lesson the hard way when I accidentally loosened a fitting too much... ended up with a mini flood under my sink. Not fun.
Also, have you checked your toilet fill valve? Sometimes if it's older or malfunctioning, it'll draw more cold water suddenly, causing that icy blast you're describing. Replacing mine made a noticeable difference.
Curious—did you notice if the temperature drop happens only with one specific toilet flushing, or is it any toilet in the house?
Totally agree about the toilet fill valve—I swapped mine out last summer and it made a noticeable difference in those sudden icy shocks. Another thing I noticed was insulating my hot water pipes actually helped smooth out temperature fluctuations. It's not a miracle fix, but it reduced the severity when someone flushed. Might be worth checking out, especially since it's pretty cheap and eco-friendly too... less wasted heat in the pipes means less energy used overall.
"Another thing I noticed was insulating my hot water pipes actually helped smooth out temperature fluctuations."
Funny you mention that—I insulated mine a couple winters ago, mostly to save on heating bills, but it ended up helping with the shower freeze-outs too. Still get a bit of a chill when someone flushes downstairs, but it's nowhere near the polar plunge it used to be. Definitely worth the afternoon spent crawling around the basement ceiling with foam tubes and duct tape... good times, haha.
"Definitely worth the afternoon spent crawling around the basement ceiling with foam tubes and duct tape... good times, haha."
Haha, sounds familiar—I spent a weekend doing the same thing last fall. Insulating helped a lot, but what really made a difference for me was installing a pressure-balancing valve in the shower. Pretty straightforward job: shut off water, remove old valve, pop in the new one, reconnect everything... took maybe two hours tops. Now flushing downstairs barely registers. Might be worth looking into if you're still getting occasional chills.
