Having cold water is something that we all expect, especially now in the colder months of the year, but in some homes, the water coming out of the faucet could still be hot, despite coming from the cold water pipe. What causes this to happen? The reason could vary, but there are a few common reasons that might give you an explanation.
In some faucets that have a single handle, it is possible that the hot and cold water is getting cross-contaminated if there is a leak in the mixer that controls the temperature. This can be fixed by replacing the faucet completely, or by replacing a cartridge inside of the faucet.
Another possibility is that your hot and warm water pipes are sitting too close together, causing heat to be transferred between them.
If the problem only happens in the wintertime, you should check your heating to make sure that your pipes aren’t being heated up by a heating vent or something similar.