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I think that explains everything. Without a check valve, my uninsulated pipes have been functioning as a giant radiator all this time. I'll correct this immediately. Thanks for the help.

Just following up to say plumber took one look and confirmed the need for a check valve. He didn't have one on his truck, so I haven't had it installed yet. I'm still sorting out how I want to set this up (timers, etc), but I do have a question about the check valve. If I understand...

Dedicated return. This was the setup when we bought the house, and, never having had a house with a circulating pump, I didn't know what to expect. We have always just turned on the pump whenever we wanted hot water, and turned it off when we were done using hot. I've been assuming that we...

Thanks for the suggestion. I will consider it once I determine whether something is actually broken with current system, or whether it just needs something more. Since I don't ever get hot without the pump, I'm thinking broken at this point. It is 3/4 pipe, with 1/2 inch sub feeds. I found...

The crawlspace is currently 55 degrees, which is probably about what it was yesterday when I did those tests. I arrived at 200 feet not by actually measuring the pipe but by noticing that the pipe made a complete, horizontal circuit of the crawlspace, and the house is about 25 feet wide and 50...

Yes, it takes a long time. The time seems to vary. This morning, I tried turning on the hot when the pipes were cold, without the pump running, and it took about five minutes. I confess my tests have been pretty casual up until now. I suppose I need to test in a variety of conditions, but I...

Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated, since I'm really having trouble sorting this out. I will definitely insulate as well as I can, but I think this thing is currently costing me quite a bit in propane. It's hard to determine exactly, because my furnace and cook top also run off the...

I did a major edit after I answered one of my own questions, so it's no longer two questions... Purchased this house with existing propane fired hot water tank with a circulation pump and dedicated return line. It works great, but is just too wasteful of propane to run the way it's set up...

Well, not sure what to say. Of course it's possible my contractor ripped me off. Of course it's possible that they are lazy, sloppy, and incompetent. It's possible that the pump they put in is 10 years old and they bought it off an on line auction site. It's possible monkeys might fly out of...

I think I was not completely clear in my last post. I meant that the reason they had to come back was that a wire nut wiggled loose. Sorry I wasn't clear. I'm convinced that was the case, because it just makes sense. The water was on for 30 minutes, and then just stopped. They just didn't...

Ok, so the well guys came out and installed a new pump (old one burned up). I had them also install a new control box and a new pressure switch and confirm that the pressure in the air bladder was correct for the switch. They drove away. I took a shower. We were happy for another 10 minutes...

Thanks Gary, I checked the valves (the ones for the filter installation are PVC schedule 40 ball valves), but no luck. I'll follow up with the well/pump guy in the morning.

Yes, of course you're right. As I said, I already called and left a message with the well/pump guy, but he won't get the message until Monday. I was hoping that someone who does understand how these systems operate could read what I have already checked and point out whether I missed...

Sorry to reply to my own post, but I am hauling water from the stock tank in the sheep pasture to flush toilets, so I'm getting desperate here... If this were you, what would you do next? Does it make sense to try to find a pressure switch and the box with relay and capacitor at Home Depot...

Hi, The valves are before the pressure tank, but it's a bypass, so, while I could shut everything off, I don't. So, all I'm doing is switching the path to the tank. Either through the filter and then to the tank, or straight to the tank. I have not noticed the pump running before. As for...

Earlier today (Christmas day), I decided I would change the whole house water filter. It's a Big Blue carbon cartridge type. I've done this twice before without incident. Today, set the valves to bypass, changed the filter, switched things back to going through the filter, and then decided to...

Hi, Yes, Moen is sending me one. THanks for the help.

Hmm...not having any luck finding a metal one. Everything I find looks just like the one I put in. Whether Moen brand, or import version, they all look like plastic with a brass stem. I honestly don't recall whether the one I put in was Moen or an OEM brand, but I'm fairly sure it was kind of...

Thank you. I didn't realize there were different kinds of replacement cartridge. Just grabbed the only one I saw at Home Depot. And, I'm pretty sure it was plastic. I'll search on-line for a metal one. Thanks again. Colin

This is in regard to a 15 year old Moen single handle bath faucet. I can pull the handle to open the flow of water into the tub, but as soon as I let go, the handle sinks back to the almost closed position, shutting off the water. It's as if there is a vacuum pulling it closed (and making it a...