Niccolo
Member
I have a house built in 2004 with a traditional hot water recirculation setup with hot water return. I recently had to replace a defective tank-based gas water heater. The original water heater was installed with the Grundfos recirculation pump pulling hot water out of the return location near the bottom of the water heater and pushing it from there into the hot water return line.
A plumber who installed the new water heater insisted that's how it needed to be installed and there was no downside to pulling hot water out of the lower part of the hot water heater rather than from the top of the water heater. The plumber said flipping the recirculation pump so that it pulled water back toward the water heater would pressurize the water heater in a way that was problematic.
A general contractor (with plumbing license) told me he thought it should be flipped, so that the recirculation pump would pull hot water out of the return pipe and push it back into the water heater.
From looking online, I can see that recirculation pumps are often installed above hot water heaters, so they can pull out of the heater there and push into the house. Assuming my recirculation pump continues to be located where it currently is, near the bottom of the unit, which way should it be oriented, i.e. who is right here, the plumber or the general contractor? And what are the consequences of doing it the other way, i.e. whatever "backwards" is?
Thanks!
A plumber who installed the new water heater insisted that's how it needed to be installed and there was no downside to pulling hot water out of the lower part of the hot water heater rather than from the top of the water heater. The plumber said flipping the recirculation pump so that it pulled water back toward the water heater would pressurize the water heater in a way that was problematic.
A general contractor (with plumbing license) told me he thought it should be flipped, so that the recirculation pump would pull hot water out of the return pipe and push it back into the water heater.
From looking online, I can see that recirculation pumps are often installed above hot water heaters, so they can pull out of the heater there and push into the house. Assuming my recirculation pump continues to be located where it currently is, near the bottom of the unit, which way should it be oriented, i.e. who is right here, the plumber or the general contractor? And what are the consequences of doing it the other way, i.e. whatever "backwards" is?
Thanks!