Nice faucet!

I don't have a lever faucet like that, but I would think that if I did, I'd want it to have like you have (moving back to get cold). Most of the time I need cold/regular water, and the pushing back motion is more ergonomic.

My faucet (a Kohler Vinnata) works the opposite of yours. That is, I push the lever back for hot and pull it forward for cold. I don't know if there's a standard, but this way works well for me.

I also have the vinnata and it works like Holligator's. Front is cold, back is hot. I'd rather have it that way because the kids tend to pull the handle forward when they turn it on and that way they get cold rather than ouch!

Interesting question about whether it can be changed, though...I have no idea.

Mine is opposite too (Hansgrohe with the same overall positioning of parts). I agree with faucetman--swap 'em if it bugs you!

I think most faucets are supposed to work the opposite of yours....hot toward the back, cold toward the front...that's the way mine works as well. But then, I also have a Vinnata.

I've looked at others and they all appear to work the same as mine,so it sounds like your hot & cold hook ups were installed incorrectly. It should simply be a matter of switching them.

Do you have the installation instructions and user manual? If so, check it to see what they say. If not, check online for them.

I would not leave them as-is since it is a potential burn hazard...if the water is still hot when someone turns it on expecting cold water & they get a full blast of hot water instead.

I have a Waterstone faucet and it is set up exactly like yours. That is how it was made to be hooked up as well, so there wasn't any installation error on mine anyway. I guess some faucets are just designed to have the hot forward and others have hot going towards the back. I always put my lever back to center, so I don't really see how it would be a burn hazard unless you leave it in the forward direction when you turn it off, if you hot was backwards and you left it in that position you would have the same potential for a burn.

Kat :)

We have the handle mounted on the left side for the Vinnata, and the instructions tell you to reverse the hot and cold lines if you mount the handle to the left or front of the faucet. You should be able to do that fairly easily with your faucet. I agree that most guests would believe that cold was forward and that you probably want to switch the lines.

If you tilt the level to the right to turn it on, you'll likely see red and blue markers on the metal that's exposed by the tilt -- these indicate the directions for hot and cold. Normally, hot is toward the back and cold is forward.

We have a similar faucet, but couldn't install it the normal way because there wasn't enough clearance to push the handle back to get hot water. So, we turned the faucet 90 degrees so that the control was front and center instead of on the right. (The symmetry of this orientation is really cool and turning the faucet off after washing dishes doesn't result in water on the countertop because the control handle is actually over the sink.)

Oriented like that, it was logical to expect hot to be on the left with cold on the right. Of course, our "left" was the old front and thus was the cold water. We simply did what faucetman886 suggested and reversed the supply connections. Although the red and blue "instruction marks" indicate the opposite of how things are connected, no one has ever even noticed it because no one looks for directions before operating a faucet.

Moral: it's YOUR faucet, connect it the way that you want so that hot is in the direction that you want.

Thanks for all the feedback. I checked the instructions and there is no indication of the direction. I also looked at the faucet and I don't see any hot/cold indicators. The plumber is coming back Tuesday so I will discuss it with him. I think I would prefer it to be switched.

My Hansgrohe has indicators marked on the faucet - forward is cold (indicated by blue), back is hot (indicated by red). The indicators are not visible until the water is on. I believe that is standard. For safety reasons, your faucet should operate in the standard manner.

This is certainly an interesting post, because I have a quandary due to having two separate faucets being installed the opposite way. I found this post after doing a search to see if there is a "correct" way to install these types of faucets. I installed a new pull down, single handle faucet at our house about 2 years ago, and it turned out that the cold water is obtained via pulling the handle to the right to open the valve, then pulling it forward to get it to the "cold" position. Seems intuitive to me to have cold towards the front, hot towards the back, but I don't recall particular instructions to do it that way when I installed it 2+ years ago, and don't see any markings on the individual supply hoses indicating which hose is for hot, and which is for cold. But then when we recently bought a condo and a plumber installed a similar pull down faucet (Giagni Fresco from Lowes), we realized that he installed it so that cold is towards the back in this case, the opposite as it is at the house. I looked at the install instructions that came with the newer faucet and it doesn't specify which way is which, and there is no blue/red exposed inside the valve assembly when turning on the sink, although that would be nice if there was. I realized that, while it seems counter-intuitive to keep the handle towards the back for cold water, and pulling it forward for hot, on the other hand, most of the time one wants cold water out of the sink, and when shutting the faucet off with these types of faucets, it looks better if the on/off valve is put back to the vertical position. So I've learned that it's a simpler step to just push the handle to the right (as opposed to moving it to the front, then to the right, as we must do with the older faucet at our house, in order to turn on the faucet and get cold water. Something I hadn't thought of with the old house. I think it can be done either way, in this case, based on preference of the owner, since there doesn't seem to be a standard for hot vs cold as there is with traditional sinks (left = hot, right = cold). So now that we have the confusing situation with the opposite at each of our residences, I suppose I should figure out which way we like better and swap out the hoses so that both houses work the same way. Add that to my long "to do" list!

I had my single fauset tap piped the wrong way by my plumber few weeks ago.cold water on left and hot water on the right,instead of the other way around.so instead of swappng the pipes underneath the sink,i swapped the cold/hot indicator so rest of family members can see which is which.my only concern is that if pipes are wrong fitted,would there be any water pressure loss!?

Vangelis - no.

I have a Brizo faucet in my powder room that we reversed the connections. The reason, most of the time we wash our hands with cold water, having the handle in front, lets us use it without dripping water on the flat sink surround. Instead soapy water on hands, runs right down into the sink.

In the kitchen, we turned the Grohe faucet and the filtered water faucet 45 degrees to the front, so they can be controlled with both left and right hands. I covered the C old H markings with small pieces of professional vinyl, indicating the correct positions. Should they eventually come off, I have plenty of red and blue vinyl left. It's been 6 months, so far, they adhere just fine.

We have two in our home; each one installed by a different plumber and each one operates differently which is very confusing. You would think the standard would be measured on the children's use of the faucet and the potential to be scalded. Direction is dependent on hookups beneath the sink. If you don't like it, just rotate the pex tubing. I have not been able to find an industry standard thus far, but would like to know if there is one and why.

The kitchen faucet here (a Hansgrohe) is marked hot for up and we like it that way. The new Moën bathroom faucet is marked so that hot would be DOWN - one of the hoses is marked HOT. I did reverse the hoses; it does feel more natural. I *have* seen several faucets set up to work the other way, so beware.

The way I see it is, if the

The way I set mine is: if the lever looks better pulled up, set the cold water that way. I’d rather see the lever up than down as it’s standard position. Having the standard position on cold will prevent from burns whenever someone uses it.

We just put a couple of similar faucets in and our actually indicates on the handle that hot is pulled all the way forward (down)

Mine works like yours. It doesn’t have any indicators either except a light that is blue, purple, or red depending on temp.

I just received my Delta Essa faucet, and was surprised to see that hot is forward and cold is to the back, as indicated by the red and blue dots (assuming the faucet is installed with the handle on the right):

AMS mine is the same as yours - I checked it after posting and it does have dots for blue toward the back and red up front.

As mentioned previously, cold should be pulled toward you and hot pushed away from you. Why?

People naturally have a tendency to pull things toward them, so the "safest" temperature should be the "forward" position. The "safest" temperature is cold.

I suspect the faucets that seem to indicate the opposite are really setup for having the handle in the front...left for hot & cold for right.

Think about it...if the left position is hot when in front, then if you simply move the handle to the right, the hot is now pulled toward you. The instructions should tell you that if you move the handle to the right, the temperatures should be reversed.

Our faucet is set up so you pull it to the right to open and then forward for hot. I have also seen ones that are forward for cold. When ours was installed the plumber explained the hot vs cold since ours has no indicators. There is some logic to the hot being pull down - imagine handle straight on at the front of the faucet - the hot would go left and the cold go right. Moving that handle from the front to the right “translates” into down for hot and up for cold. I think down for hot makes sense for faucets like ours where there is no “back” - you just pull to the right to open and get cold water. You pull right and push down for hot, but it may be that I am just used to it. Seems to me it would make sense for manufacturers to make the indicators switchable so people can decide which works best for them.

I too am interested to hear some authoritative response, but so far I've yet to see any. The closest thing I've seen to authoritative on this are a) the results of my own experience installing these following the instructions of the manufacturer and b) the reports above where the manufacturer has provided red and blue indicators. Regarding a): I've installed two of these faucets over the past few years. Following the instructions from both manufacturers has resulted in the hot in the "down" or "forward" position, and cold in the "up" or "back" position. Regarding b): I see in the reports in the thread above, when the manufacturer has provided a visual indicator, red is forward, blue is back (up). This makes sense to me for the following reasons: 1) When "at rest" the faucet should be in "cold" position. The "up" position is the "at rest" position. When forward (down), the handle is partially over the sink and in the way. 2) When washing large items in the sink, I (and I imagine many others) often bump the handle which is set to some mid-point temperature (where it can be adjusted hotter or colder). Bumping the handle pretty much *always* means bumping it up or toward the back (because what I'm working on is below it in the sink). With cold toward up/back, bumping the handle turns it colder (safer) not hotter (more dangerous).

My new faucets operate the same. Forward for hot

I have two faucets like this. The first one I bought and had installed is made by Grohe. It has blue and red markings for cold and hot respectively. Hot is the upright/back position, and the forward/down position is for cold. I had a second faucet like this installed recently (made by Kohler) which lacked the blue/cold and red/hot markings but if it is installed according to how the lines are marked under the cabinet, the Kohler would function the same as the Grohe (hot/upright). Having used the previous faucet for several years, I decided to install it in the reverse: cold/upright and hot/forward/down. The reason is that the faucet handle looks better resting in the upright position and since I use cold more frequently, it is easier to turn on the cold with one motion to the right rather than down and right. (I asked the plumber about this issue and he said that standard installation is back hot, forward cold). Cold in the back upright position makes more ergonomic sense for my purposes so it is the way I installed it.

Hi guys, I've installed my kitchen tap recently and also connected the hoses the wrong way round so I get hot forward and down /cold back and down. The thing is would this affect the water flow, as in would the cartridge need to be turned round also and would it harm the tap, or it doesn't matter what way you connect the hoses.

There is no "authoritative" response because there is no rule.

The supply lines are marked by the mfr so you know which is which but you can install any faucet any way you like (at least in the northern US where, you know....). Some faucets have, like shower diverters, blue and red markings on the face so for those, well, it is what it is.

I just replaced a kitchen faucet that back was hot and forward was cold. The new one, a Kohler, does not allow the lever to go to the back, only upright or forward. Upright is cold and forward is hot, which is confusing because of 10 years with the prior faucet. I don't understand why they designated it to be this way but I'm free to reverse them.

To the comments about scalding if hot if forward, well, if you're concerned about scalding in 2021 I suggest you go right now and turn your hot water source down because it should not be set to over 120F.

Why on earth can't these companies put some H/C markings on these faucets! We have an airbnb and people are wasting a lot of water trying to find weather up or down is hot or cold. Seriously! I wish I had known there was no marking when I bought this Delta faucet.

The standard rule in plumbing is that "right/clockwise" is cold (righty-tighty) and "left/counter-clockwise" is hot (lefty-loosey). If you think of traditional sinks, with two separate temperature control knobs, the cold knob is always on the right and the hot knob is always on the left. This has been standardized so that you'll know how the sink works no matter whose house or business you're in, so that scalding accidents will be less likely. A problem arises, however, with some modern faucets such as this one that have a single lever located on the side of the faucet, in this case, on the right side. If you imagine yourself standing on the right side of the faucet, then turning the lever back toward the wall would be to the right/clockwise, so that should be cold. Turning the lever front toward the sink/room would be left/counter-clockwise, so that should be hot. Most manufacturer's instructions, and red/blue indicators, will follow this standard practice and state that back should be cold and forward should be hot. As many people have noted, however, children are short and most commonly will pull the handle forward to turn the sink on, which means they will get hot water with the standard orientation. That's not ideal, because that creates a risk that children will get scalded, which is precisely the result the standard orientation was trying to avoid. For many people, there is also something counter-intuitive about pulling forward for hot. Because hot seems more "dangerous" than cold, our instinct is to push it away (back toward the wall), not pull it forward (toward the sink). So, if people do the intuitive thing and pull the handle forward, they're also increasing their risk of a scalding injury with the standard orientation. Then, we also have the consideration that the handle looks better to most people in the up/vertical position than in the forward/angled position, so there's an argument to be made that up/vertical should be the "standard" position, which would be cold. That aligns with the standard orientation, where back/vertical is cold and front/angled is hot. Finally, some manufacturers may defy the standard orientation, and their instructions or red/blue dots may indicate that forward is cold and back is hot. So, putting all this together, I think the technically "correct" answer is that the standard way to orient the lever is back for cold and forward for hot, but the manufacturer's instructions or red/blue dots may indicate otherwise, and you may prefer otherwise if your intuition guides you in that direction, or if you have small children who tend to pull the handle forward. If you don't use the standard orientation, guests who come into your home may have a bit of a learning curve, but they may have a learning curve anyway if they also are intuitively expecting hot to be back and cold forward. So, I think the bottom line is that you should do what you want, or what the manufacturer says to do, but the standard practice is back for cold and front for hot.

I realize at this stage its a long-shot, but I have the exact same faucet as the original poster and need parts for it. does anyone know brand and/or model?

Is there any risk if we just switch the lines - red dotted lines to plumbed cold water line and blue dotted lines to plumbed hot water line? Is are the red and blue dotted lines made of different materials?

We had a Grohe where front was cold and back was hot. Got a new Brizo and it is the opposite. We had our contractor just switch the lines. It works fine this way.

Im so happy you posted this. we just had a new kitchen faucet ( Artos) installed. ours is the same way as yours & i kept thinking it was wrong. i guess its about getting used to it. thanks!

The control should be facing towards you, not to the right. For hot, tilt the control to the left. For cold, tilt the control to the right. On is towards you and off is away from you. I just installed another kitchen faucet and it was labeled wrongly, so I had to switch the hoses below.

HU-715652924 This post is 16 years old.

16 years went by and people are still putting these faucets in wrong, lol. To install, simply point the control towards you, like a shower control, and everything looks normal. If yours was installed 90-degrees counterclockwise of correct, you can reach under and loosen that big nut and rotate the whole thing 90 degrees... easy.

It is a funny thread. May it live forever.