# A Question about Bathrooms

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-bathrooms/19313>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 12, 2000, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-bathrooms/19313 "2000-05-12T04:44:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2000, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-bathrooms/19313/1 "2000-05-12T04:44:26Z")

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On all sinks I’ve ever seen, cold water comes out when the right knob is turned (or the knob is turned to the right) and hot water comes out when the left knob is turned (or the knob is turned to the left). Why? I this just some American thing, reversed in the UK, or is it all over? Even if it is just an American thing, why? Standards are convienent, but why those standards?

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**Author:** ![Steve-o](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@Steve-o](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve-o)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2000, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-bathrooms/19313/2 "2000-05-12T05:05:44Z")

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Although I don’t know for sure, I would imagine that it is a convenience thing. Most people are right handed, and the cold water is used most often, so….

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2000, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-bathrooms/19313/3 "2000-05-12T05:17:12Z")

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In New Zealand, they do not have this convention. Some travelers there get the impression that they have the reverse convention, but that isn’t true either. When you use a faucet in NZ, you have to look at the knobs to see which is cold and which is hot.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2000, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-bathrooms/19313/4 "2000-05-12T13:28:21Z")

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In Montreal, where they’re bilingual, they have one faucet labeled “C” for “cold” and the other “C” for “chaud.” 😉

U.S. plumbing codes specify the cold water is on the right. Outside the U.S., it’s whatever local laws stipulate – if they stipulate anything.

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**Author:** ![tshirts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@tshirts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tshirts)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-bathrooms/19313/5 "2000-05-12T23:48:06Z")

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It would seem the EC would have a left/right standard, since they do have someone to dictate colored dots on the knobs.  
Red is Hot and Blue is Cold, just like the heater in your car.  
I guess standards organizations can only do so much.