Recirculating Pumps

[jand38]

I need input I am remodeling a bath room and would like to free up the space that my 10 gallon w/h takes up. Has any one used the hot water recirculating pumps? One brand that caught my eye was "Redy Temp" reading from the Internet I am totally confused by all the info so I turn to TractorByNet people because you are very knowledgeable . Thank You

 

[kenmac]

I need input I am remodeling a bath room and would like to free up the space that my 10 gallon w/h takes up. Has any one used the hot water recirculating pumps? One brand that caught my eye was "Redy Temp" reading from the Internet I am totally confused by all the info so I turn to TractorByNet people because you are very knowledgeable . Thank You

They are easy to hook up it ya can do plumbinh & electrical. The ones that I have installed came with easy to use instructions. You just make a loop. They will make your ele. / gas bill higher as they are constantly running to keep hot water to the outlet they are piped to & returning cold water to the tank to be re-heated

 

[Henry]

The re-circ pump we have includes a temperature sensor that attaches to the return line. I believe that it turns on the pump when that return line falls below a certain temperature. It sure is nice to have quick hot water on a cold morning ......

I turned mine off for a few months to see if I could see a savings in my gas bill (the only use for gas in hot water). I could not see a measurable difference. Intuitively, this didn't make sense ....

 

[RonMar]

While visiting a home on the National Solar Tour day inour area, the owner went over all he features of this house. SInce he was producing a good chunk of solar electricity, he had went to fairly extensive lengths to monitor his power consumption. He said the automatic circ pumps from the tank to the remote bathrooms were a real killer on the electricity used to heat hot water, to the tune of 250KWH per month in the winter time. He put on demand switches in each bathroom, so when activated, the pump would run for a few minutes only. You push the button when you enter the bathroom to use the facilities and by the time you are ready to turn a hot tap, you should have hot water. That way if the bathroom is unused for quite a while, there is no additional heat loss from continously circulating hot water thru the plumbing. Sounds like a really good idea.

Here is a link to his website with energy usage and solar energy generated(realtime) from his array. He discusses about every feature of his home construction and the comments about the on demand hot water are on the right hand side under "energy saving features"
Stampede Drive Energy Star

 

[schmism]

there is a version out there that needs no "return line" as it crosses between the hot and cold side under the sink (least thats what i understood from the box i saw in the store)

hold up 2 fingers. one is the hot side to a faucet the other is the cold side. that cold side is the same cold side that connects to the water heater (through some convoluted cold water network but it does eventually get back there)

your rist being the water heater, draw a link between your finger nails and put a pump on the link, theres your return line.....

now granted youll have warm water on the "cold" side but its only temporary.

so an option for a retro fit when you cant put a dedicated recurc line in.

 

[sawdust_maker]

He said the automatic circ pumps from the tank to the remote bathrooms were a real killer on the electricity used to heat hot water, to the tune of 250KWH per month in the winter time. He put on demand switches in each bathroom, so when activated, the pump would run for a few minutes only. You push the button when you enter the bathroom to use the facilities and by the time you are ready to turn a hot tap, you should have hot water. That way if the bathroom is unused for quite a while, there is no additional heat loss from continously circulating hot water thru the plumbing. Sounds like a really good idea.

A trick I've heard of is to put a motion sensor in the bathroom. When you go in there, the pump kicks on automatically, then off when you leave. No issue with forgetting to turn it off this way.

John

 

[RonMar]

A trick I've heard of is to put a motion sensor in the bathroom. When you go in there, the pump kicks on automatically, then off when you leave. No issue with forgetting to turn it off this way.

John

If your good about shutting off yor lights, you could probably provide power to the pump timer circuit from the lighting circuit. But not every time I go into the bathroom do I need hot water. With the button and timer, the bathroom only gets primed with hotwater when you think you will want some, and the pump only runs long enough to prime the system, so potentially less wasted energy.

 

[Travelover]

In my house there is a return line from the farthest hot water usage point back to the bottom of the hot water tank ("T'ed" in with drain valve). The hot water constantly circulates using natural convection (no electric power). If you have access you could plumb the same thing. This line and all the hot water lines are insulated with foam sleeve insulators to minimize wasted heat.

 

[Chuck52]

I have one of those in the bathroom we added on, because the run to the water heater was so long. It has a timer you can set for as many on/off periods as you want, so I used to set it up to come on in the morning for as long as we typically needed it. That was OK, but the timer seemed to gain (or lose, I can't remember) and it wasn't on when I needed it. So, I just started turning it on when I wanted it. The trouble with that is that the switch is on the timer under the sink, so I use it but the wife doesn't. If I can figure out easy wiring, I'll put a switch above the sink so we can use it like Ron Mar described. It really is nice to get hot water without running cold down the tap for several minutes. BTW, ours uses the cold water line as the return, and the "temporary" warm water in the cold line can last a while. If you want a drink of cold water during that period, forget it. In fact, any tap between the water heater input and that sink will have "warm" water while the pump is going.

Chuck

 

[charlz]

They sell one in the Costco's here, can't remember the brand. A lot of the efficiency would likely be determined on where your water lines run. My water lines run under the house in insulated wall but unheated crawl space. For me I think it would be a huge energy waste. I don't really mind waiting for hot water. The sales pitch on the device is about saving money through not wasting water, being on a well I likely would not notice any savings.

Charles