Efficiency of Hot Water Recirculating Pump

: Is a hot water recirculating pump an enery/water efficient purchase or a luxury purchase? Were heard that it pays for itself in 3 years. How can that be when youre paying for a pump to be running and when theres heat loss from pipes through which hot water is constantly being recirculated?My personal opinion is thats it a luxury item in most cases. For the reason you stated I dont see the big pay back. I have seen cases where it is a time saver, you have to wait several minutes for your bath water to get hot. Ive also had cases where hot water wasnt getting to the dishwasher before it was filled and started washing. I think your local water/sewer cost and running cold water down the drain would have to be considered. The efficiency of these would have to be considered on a case by case basics. My .02 cents

: : Is a hot water recirculating pump an enery/water efficient purchase or a luxury purchase? Were heard that it pays for itself in 3 years. How can that be when youre paying for a pump to be running and when theres heat loss from pipes through which hot water is constantly being recirculated?: My personal opinion is thats it a luxury item in most cases. For the reason you stated I dont see the big pay back. I have seen cases where it is a time saver, you have to wait several minutes for your bath water to get hot. Ive also had cases where hot water wasnt getting to the dishwasher before it was filled and started washing. I think your local water/sewer cost and running cold water down the drain would have to be considered. : The efficiency of these would have to be considered on a case by case basics. : My .02 centsThere is something called a Demand hot water circulating system that is similar. When you want hot water you push a button and a pump under the sink pumps the hot water at high speed to the fixture, and turns off when the water is hot. It uses the cold water line as the return line but doesnt let hot water get into the cold line. It saves a lot of water and depending upon your useage habits can save you energy. One such system is the Chilipepper appliance. You can find information on all kinds of circulating systems, and water heaters on my website.Bill Lund

: Is a hot water recirculating pump an enery/water efficient purchase or a luxury purchase? Were heard that it pays for itself in 3 years. How can that be when youre paying for a pump to be running and when theres heat loss from pipes through which hot water is constantly being recirculated?Wow great Question. But to make it more interesting let you be the one to answer it. Let me just give you some facts ok. 1-When you turn on the hot water faucet (tap) you normally let the water run and run and run until it gets hot correct so far? Y or N 2- This wasted down the drain water was heated and now when the water is shut off the hot water remaining in the pipes will again cool off Y or N ? 3- If your paying for water Via a water meter your not only wasting fuel BUT precious potable water correct Y or N ? 4- If you had a recirulation pump you would not put undo stress on your H/W heater due to thermo shock of cold water entering this tank as the cold water would be TEMPERED with the hot return water correct Y or N ? 5- The actual circulator would be of minimal horse power like 1/12 or 1/16 just enough to keep the water moving Y or N ? 6- With this added on ENERGY saving device would you not also be getting an added benefit of almost instant H/W with little loss of water. Y or N ? 7- All water heaters have stand by losses and if you stayed by your heater you would hear it come on and off several times during the day. Y or N ? Now lets consider all the above if you had a constant circulation with insulated pipes your actually saving your heater from trying to heat cold water from entering the system you would have much less condensation less thermo stress on the tank, MUCH, MUCH less waste of clean fresh water. Not paying for water to sit in a pipe cool only to be run down a drain waiting for it to get hot again to start this wasteful cycle again. As more and more localities meter the water and prices start to sky rocket as clean fresh water is harder to find and as more water is wasted and larger pipes are needed to convey water to your home and other people who waste water and your Gas/Electric bills climb higher to make up for people literly throwing HOT paid for water down the drain. Then you can tell me if it is cheaper to install a CHEAP efficient bronze circulator or not? I would never be the one to give a snap judgement saying yes they dont pay for themselfs as we have to make our own minds up. You decide if this is just a convience or the right energy water saving thing to do. Respectifully Sylvan LMP

Luxuries like hot water on demand can be a self liquidating expense. We all know there is no free lunch, but there is an area where the slight additional cost even after an amortization period makes good sense. For instance how many hours will it save you over the next 5 years waiting for the cottin pickin hot water to show up at the tap. How much is that time worth? New installations should of course be adequately insulated for obvious reasons. The retrofit install may be a little harder to justify because of the inaccessability of the hot water piping in the walls ..ceiling or under the slab. A small pump is all that is needed, preferably with a multiple RPM tap connection to keep the velocity of the return line at a reasonable level to avoid erosion problems with pipe and fittings. I dont have a recirc pump on my hot water lines, but I wish I did. Ill write that on that very long list my wife has for things that I need to do….Ahrmand

: Is a hot water recirculating pump an enery/water efficient purchase or a luxury purchase? Were heard that it pays for itself in 3 years. How can that be when youre paying for a pump to be running and when theres heat loss from pipes through which hot water is constantly being recirculated?I just relocated my 50 gal water heater. I used 80 ft of extra pipe to do the relocation. I had to turn the hot water on in the lav then go get my cup of coffee and still have to wait for the hot water to arrive. Im on a well, and septic system. So here i am filling my septic tank, hereing my pump come on and wasteing 5 gallons of water each time i use the lav or shower. So i put a 1/12th hp pump on. Instantly i have hot water no waste of water,or electricty or my time.why waste all that when you dont have to. Yes it saves A LOT. Dale Peck LMP

The way to make it more efficient is to install a timer so it only runs when people would be using water. About 15 minutes before the get up, off if everyone works, and then on again in the evening. The factor you do not mention is that the life of a water heater is dependent on the amount of water it heats over its lifetime, and the cirulation pump makes it operate more frequently and therefore reduces its lifetime.: Is a hot water recirculating pump an enery/water efficient purchase or a luxury purchase? Were heard that it pays for itself in 3 years. How can that be when youre paying for a pump to be running and when theres heat loss from pipes through which hot water is constantly being recirculated?

: : Is a hot water recirculating pump an enery/water efficient purchase or a luxury purchase? Were heard that it pays for itself in 3 years. How can that be when youre paying for a pump to be running and when theres heat loss from pipes through which hot water is constantly being recirculated?: I just relocated my 50 gal water heater. I used 80 ft of extra pipe to do the relocation. I had to turn the hot water on in the lav then go get my cup of coffee and still have to wait for the hot water to arrive. Im on a well, and septic system. So here i am filling my septic tank, hereing my pump come on and wasteing 5 gallons of water each time i use the lav or shower. So i put a 1/12th hp pump on. Instantly i have hot water no waste of water,or electricty or my time.why waste all that when you dont have to. Yes it saves A LOT. Dale Peck LMPSo in another words YOU agree with me huh Dale LOL Have a great one . Sylvan

: Luxuries like hot water on demand can be a self liquidating expense. We all know there is no free lunch, but there is an area where the slight additional cost even after an amortization period makes good sense. For instance how many hours will it save you over the next 5 years waiting for the cottin pickin hot water to show up at the tap. How much is that time worth? : New installations should of course be adequately insulated for obvious reasons. The retrofit install may be a little harder to justify because of the inaccessability of the hot water piping in the walls ..ceiling or under the slab. A small pump is all that is needed, preferably with a multiple RPM tap connection to keep the velocity of the return line at a reasonable level to avoid erosion problems with pipe and fittings. : I dont have a recirc pump on my hot water lines, but I wish I did. Ill write that on that very long list my wife has for things that I need to do….Ahrmand Thanks Bud wow we think alike HUH ? LOLOL