nicktheplumber
I would think that you have a long run of hot water pipe, and that the standing water in this pipe run is just cooling off…so you have to clear the cool water before you get a good hot water flow. If that is the case, you could consider installing a hot water recirculation pump in the line and/or insulating your hot water pipes. However, you also implay that this was not a problem before your new Ruud water heater was installed. So maybe you need to adjust your Ruud thermostat up a couple of notches and/or insulate the tank.
NtP
