I’ve been reading the new LifeHacker blog by Gawker, and I’m really diggin’ it. It’s basically tips for everyday life, geared toward, well, mostly geeks.

Anyway, I’m not sure if this would qualify, but it’s a little “hack” that I’ve been using for awhile now, and I quite like it.

Don’t you hate waiting for the water to warm up in the morning when you go to have your shower? In my house it can take close to 30 seconds for the water to start warming up. So, what I do is run the hot water tap while I’m brushing my teeth.

It’s the pipes between the hot water heater and your shower spout that keep the water cold for so long. The water that is still in the pipe is completely cold, and even after hot water starts flowing through them, the pipes take a bit of time to warm up themselves. By running the hot water in the sink before you go to get in the shower, you ensure that the pipes are warm all the way to the bathroom. The shower takes mere seconds to warm up after that.

Silly little thing, but it works for me.