Kim
: : 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
