Bath vs Shower

Last night, the hubster wanted to take a bath to soak his poor muscles after a day of snowboarding.  I found out that he does not know how to draw a bath.  I discovered this when a) I found the hot water running and the tub stopper was not in place an b) I went to take a shower after his bath and ended up taking a cold shower because there was no hot water left.  We have a 3 Br, 3Bath condo.  I am sure our hot water heater can heat at least 3-4 showers before the hot water runs out.

I grew up taking baths as a kid, so when I draw a bath, I turn on the hot water and plug the tub.  This way the cold water is not wasted.  The water will get hot enough and warm up the cold water.  I came the conclusion that he was letting the hot water go down the drain as he waited for it to get hot.  After I plugged the tub for him, I never checked back on it.  Probably mistake number 2.  Next time, I'll know to take a shower first or run the bath for him.

Anyway, I reffed a play day today and as I was in the shower, I was thinking about baths and showers.  As I said before, I grew up taking baths as a kid.  Apparently, this is not the norm in most American households.  I found this out in fourth grade.  One day we were learning about recycling and conservation.  The question was posed: What uses more water: baths or showers?  My initial thought was baths, duh!  But I was enlightened that it was showers because the water comes down in drops.  I was like WTF!  Turns out taking baths sequentially and just adding more hot water to the bath water is not normal.  Some would call it dirty, re-using water!  I always felt clean and it may have been better at conserving water.  After that, I never told anyone about the baths just so they wouldn't think we were dirty.