Hot Water Recirculation

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Jadnashua

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I've had a hot water recirculation system installed for about 15-years, and the original device, a RedyTemp failed. The check valve died, and the company went out of business sometime last year from what I can tell. Worked great, was quiet, but resurrecting it was not in the plan, so I looked around a bit and decided on the Lang AutoCirc system. It's a little bit noisier than the RedyTemp, but I guess that's probably expected...the RedyTemp unit was enclosed in a box, whereas the Lang device is pretty much a bare motor and control so it's a lot smaller. It's designed to be mounted to a bracket screwed to a wall. As with any of these under the sink situations, you have to have power. In my case, I'd already dropped a line from the wall receptacle into the vanity, so it just plugged in. Depending on where your power is, it could be a simple job, but if you can't do it yourself, you might need an electrician. Installing the actual unit only requires a wrench for the water connections and a screwdriver (and maybe a drill) to mount the bracket to the wall. Probably less than 1/2-hour or less to install. The running sound not obtrusive, and I don't notice it in the master bath with the door open while sleeping.

The thing is a bit unusual as the impeller is driven magnetically...there's no motor shaft that penetrates the pump chamber. It also only draws 14W when running, and it seems to run for maybe a minute or so every 15-20 this time of year (more when the built-in timer first enables it in the morning). I expect it will run less in the summer. It runs the pump until the incoming water reaches 95-degrees F, and stops. It will turn back on when the temp drops to 85-degrees. They do make a (more expensive) version where you can adjust the low-temp turn on point. I've had it now for about a week, and it seems to be doing its job.

A friend has a Chilipepper. That uses a MUCH larger pump, and is setup for a manual control where it will run until hot arrives, then shut off until called on manually later. Two things I didn't like about it...the large pump is not exactly quiet, and needing some remote to turn the thing on from multiple locations could be an issue. Call me a wimp, but I like hot to be there when I turn on the tap, not to have to think about it, wait for it, then do it all over again later.

By limiting the maximum temp where it shuts off, there's hot nearby, warm there, and everything downstream has hot at the main line so you only need to purge the branch for hot. My shower gets hot in less than 5-seconds, which is maybe my ideal situation.

There are other systems out there, and this one is not the least expensive, but seems well built (uses a Goulds pump) and so far, is working as designed. The price can vary radically on where you buy it. Hopefully, it will last at least as long as the older one. At least with this one, rather than some proprietary parts, I expect the manufacturer will be around for a repair part when the time comes.

I'll update this if anything changes.
 

Jadziedzic

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I've had a Lang EcoCirc 3e installed at the water heater for eight or so years now (dedicated return line). It's worked flawlessly, and the only service I've had to do was to clean out the bleeder valve connection due to a bit of sediment/gunk build-up over the years. This unit also has the "floating" magnetically-driven impeller, has a timer and a temperature control, and uses very little power.
 
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