Hot H2O circurlator pumps
Has anyone installed one of these pumps that use the existing cold water lines for the return? They are suppose to supply hot water to the far point in the house and cut down on the waste of that 5 gal you put down the drain.
Laing Thermotech makes one. Just like to know if I'm throwing away money.
Laing Thermotech makes one. Just like to know if I'm throwing away money.
0
-
one thing to consider is that in constantly re-circulateing the water the water heater will be running quite a bit more when no water is being used.
this may amount to more cost than the higher water bill for that wasted water.
consider the small "on demand" heaters available in electric and gas that fit under the sink and near the tub
(edit)
one other drawback may be haveing HOT water in the cold line that will have to be purged for cold water just as now you have to wait for the hot water...?0 -
if you have hot water faucet far away from heater why not consider electric unit under sink...immediate on demand hot & no wasted energy 0 -
Throwing money away IMHO, for the reasons listed above. You will waste hot water everytime you turn on the cold tap.
The recirculating systems need to be installed in new cunstruction situations to be economical.
That way you have a hot water "circuit", and a seperate cold line.
I wouldn't do it anyway.[;)]0 -
We have the "on demand" water heater in our house after the old water heater gave out and we save about 2/3 of our electric bill by going to it. It has paid for itself in under 6 months. The price was only about 100.00 more than the standard one and I would never get a standard one again after seeing how nice the "on demand" ones work. 0 -
Just another "touchy feely" scam. [:(!][:(!] 
0 -
gjshaw...do you have separate units at sink, lav, or shower or is setup close enough to use one??? seems long lines would be no diff than regular water heater 0 -
Couple ways to make it work, without getting a lot of waste
1) bring a pipe back from the last faucet and "T" it into the HWH cold supply pipe BUT place a check valve above the "T" (on the cold supply side) so that the circulated water can only go into the water heater
2) bring the pipe back and tie it into the "drain" at the bottom of the water heater. Again a check valve (this time in the return line) would be a good idea
3) IF you can run a continious down slope back from the last faucet to the "drain" on the water heater, you won't need a pump at all as the water will "thermo-siphon" around the loop (make sure that you have a smaller diameter pipe as part of the last vertical run, (no check valve) to reduce the "back flow" of cold water during showers (IOW without the smaller pipe you will run out of hot water sooner, due to the cold water at the bottom of the tank mixing in the pipes).
The last is what I have in my house, and I get "instant" hot water some 40' from the HWH (I also have my hot water set up on a single loop, the only "branches" are the pipes running straight up to the various faucets).0 -
Helped a guy install one.
Two check valves were needed to operate.
One that kept the cold water from back flowing into the hot water line when it was turned on then another that kept the hot water from entering the cold water supply line.
It cost him more in the long run due to having to power the pump and keep the water hot in the water tank. Along with having to dump the hot water down the drain until it became cold again.
He did away with it and installed a small electric 10 gallon water heater made for a mobile home in the closet of his bath.0 -
quote:Originally posted by LesWVa
Helped a guy install one.
Two check valves were needed to operate.
One that kept the cold water from back flowing into the hot water line when it was turned on then another that kept the hot water from entering the cold water supply line.
Makes sense, and wouldn't cost much extra.
quote:Originally posted by LesWVa
Along with having to dump the hot water down the drain until it became cold again.
Huh? I don't know how they do it in WVa, but up here in the north we run 2 pipes to each faucet, 1 hot and 1 cold.0 -
Maybe misunderstood.
Hot and cold water going to the faucet.
Pump was placed inline with the Hot water line under the sink.
Line ran from the pump to the cold water line. Check valve here to prevent cold water entering the hot water line when it was turned on.
The hot water was then pumped back to the supply line near where it entered the water heater.
Check valve installed on the supply line to prevent the hot water from being forced back through the supply line.
Basically it made a closed loop for the hot water to circulate using the cold water line as a return until the cold water was turned on. Now with the cold water line being full of hot water. It had to be dumped in order to have cold water.0 -
You need three lines, one for cold and a supply and return for hot. If the point of use is plumbed above the water heater the loop will circulate the water without a pump. The pump need only be a small fractional unit anyway. You could run a small pump like that for pennies a day. The best way to go costs a good bit up front, but saves water and power in the long run. Gas fired tankless heaters don't do anything unless you are using the hot water, then they are only on long enough to use what you need. 0 -
I have just one heater for the whole house. The way it saves is that it doesn't keep hot water hot when I'm sleeping or gone for a long weekend or three and it only turned on when the fauset was on. You would be suprised on how much you will save. Electric bill went from average of 180.00 to under 100.oo. 0 -
OK Les, I got the picture now. It was the water in the "shaired return" pipe he was dumping. Had you guys run a third pipe (hot return), your buddy would have been a happy camper.
BDJ and I are thinking along the same line, with the gravity operated system. In my house the longest distance from the hot water loop to a faucet is about 3' and my only "extra" cost was for 40' of CPVC and a few hangers0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
13 comments