sjh
New Member
Yes or no? I'm in a 3 bedroom 1 bath house in Southern California. I know it will save water, but what will it do to the natural gas and electric bills? Comfort or dedicated return line? Any and all comments appreciated.
Hot water recirculation pump?
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Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Saving water may be your bigger goal. If you can insulate your hot water lines, if they aren't already, that can really help. Using either an on-demand (annoying, since you have to activate it and wait), maybe a proximity switch that turns it on when you get into the room, or a timer so it's on when you expect to be up and want quicker water won't cause much of a pump power issue. You do not need a big pump...mine only draws about 8W when it runs, and only runs maybe 4-5 minutes out of the hour.
If you can run a return line, some will prefer that. Using the cold water line as the return works, too, and that's how mine has been hooked up for over 20years now. THe first pump lasted 19, and actually the pump still works, but the box had a proprietary check valve in it that failed, and it wasn't available, or worth the effort to juryrig an alternative in it.
Most package recirculation systems have a cross-over that shuts recirculation down when the water at the sensing point gets warm, not hot, so if you're using the cold water line for the return, it's not full of hot water...only slightly warm, and not the full path back to the water heater. Mine shuts the recirculation off when it gets about 96-degrees, some do it at 105 or so, and some are adjustable...this gets hot near by, and warm there immediately, and further back towards the WH, it's all hot.
I don't have to worry about saving water, but put it in for the convenience. We average about 40" of rain and 60" of snow a year, so water usually isn't an issue!
Some run the pump constantly, but stop the flow with a valve...some shut the pump off in between cycles. You don't want a big pump to get hot quicker...you want a small one that gets it there slower and cheaper with less noise and power use. The first time mine turns on in the morning, it might run 2-3 minutes. During the day, maybe 45-seconds every 10-15 minutes, depending on the season, although the house stays about the same temperature all year round.
If you can run a return line, some will prefer that. Using the cold water line as the return works, too, and that's how mine has been hooked up for over 20years now. THe first pump lasted 19, and actually the pump still works, but the box had a proprietary check valve in it that failed, and it wasn't available, or worth the effort to juryrig an alternative in it.
Most package recirculation systems have a cross-over that shuts recirculation down when the water at the sensing point gets warm, not hot, so if you're using the cold water line for the return, it's not full of hot water...only slightly warm, and not the full path back to the water heater. Mine shuts the recirculation off when it gets about 96-degrees, some do it at 105 or so, and some are adjustable...this gets hot near by, and warm there immediately, and further back towards the WH, it's all hot.
I don't have to worry about saving water, but put it in for the convenience. We average about 40" of rain and 60" of snow a year, so water usually isn't an issue!
Some run the pump constantly, but stop the flow with a valve...some shut the pump off in between cycles. You don't want a big pump to get hot quicker...you want a small one that gets it there slower and cheaper with less noise and power use. The first time mine turns on in the morning, it might run 2-3 minutes. During the day, maybe 45-seconds every 10-15 minutes, depending on the season, although the house stays about the same temperature all year round.
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Breplum
Licensed plumbing contractor
For saving water and energy, the ideal system is a user initiated (switch or even motion detector) dedicated return recirculation system. However, it is a lot of money to spend to have this type of system installed, complete with insulating existing hot line plus the new return.
It is a green solution, but at a price, literally.
Back in the day, the cost to run a fractional h.p. pump was under a dollar, if it had an aquastat as part of the system. I haven't seen nor taken the time to use today's costs...but if you have PV solar, not a likely a cost at all.
It is a green solution, but at a price, literally.
Back in the day, the cost to run a fractional h.p. pump was under a dollar, if it had an aquastat as part of the system. I haven't seen nor taken the time to use today's costs...but if you have PV solar, not a likely a cost at all.
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