120°, baby

Do you have a meat thermometer? Take it and stick it under the tap, and run just your hot water. Let it get really hot (2 minutes), and then see what temperature your hot water is.

While you're doing that, here are some interesting statistics to keep in mind.

Temperature of Water // Time to Cause a Bad Burn
-------------------------------------
150°F (66°C) 2 seconds
140°F (60°C) 6 seconds
125°F (52°C) 2 minutes
120°F (49°C) 10 minutes
-------------------------------------
*** time listed is for adults, for children it will be less time

Right after Tasha got scalded (reached up for a cup of hot water), I checked out the hot water temp at home. It was something that I had been meaning to get around to, but hadn't done yet. I was pretty surprised to find that the hot water temperature, which I didn't think was that hot, was 144°F. So less than 6 seconds to cause a bad burn... not good.

So if you can control your hot water temperature, take some time to set it to 120°F. It will be worth it, somewhere down the line.


Links:

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_hotwatr_hhg.htm

http://www.sickkids.ca/journal/vol2issue4/hotwater.asp

http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/articles/other/burns_23/