In the past, if someone was showering and the toilet was flushed. The water in the shower would go suddenly hot or suddenly cold.
Why did that happen? What changed to prevent it?
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The water lines in your house are under pressure. When you’re having a shower let’s say you mix 50% hot water line and 50% cold water line to get the right temperature. When you flush the toilet, the cold water line is opened inside the toilet to refill the tank. This drops the pressure inside the cold water line, so at your shower valve, it reduces the water input in the mix. So now you’re getting something like 60% hot water to 40% cold water. So it comes out much hotter. As a safety measure, people would sometimes hook up your toilet to the hot water line instead, so you the water would turn cold instead of scalding. Still unpleasant but at least no injury.
New valves use a thermostatic pressure balancing system. It wants to stay the same temperature. So when the cold water input drops, it keeps the ratio of pressure consistent and drops the hot water input as well. So you keep your 50/50 hot/cold mix. These valves restrict the overall water use more than the old ones did, which means that the water flow doesn’t noticeable change much when someone flushes.
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