Watts 500800 Install question (two water heaters in parallel)

[Chet Khamare]

Hello,
I have question regarding the install of Watts 500800 recirculating pump in our home, home is two story so needless to say hot water takes 2-3 minutes to get to kitchen--rediculous.

I have attached pictures of water heater set up... I know where the recirculating pump needs to go, my issue is how to install unit..all installations I have seen install Watts pump vertically on single tank installations.



My question is two fold..
1) Can I install the pump in horizontal configuration--meaning the in and out lines will run right to left --i would have it simply resting on the tank--would have to secure with adhesive or silicone
2) What is best way to pipe given the PEX tubing setup--my thought is to create loop after two tanks join and just prior to entering house.




Home is only 2 years old---no issues with tanks.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Phog]

I'm slightly confused. To sum up what I think you are asking -- you are going to run a recirc return PEX pipe from your kitchen sink to these tanks, and are wondering how to connect this new return line + recirc pump (+ recirc check valve I assume)?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Chet Khamare]

I'm slightly confused. To sum up what I think you are asking -- you are going to run a recirc return PEX pipe from your kitchen sink to these tanks, and are wondering how to connect this new return line + recirc pump (+ recirc check valve I assume)?

No,
I am going to install the sensor at the sink farthest from the Water Heater on second floor. I am not sure of how to install pump at the water heater. The PEX tubing is too flimsy to support the weight of the Pump. So my option is to reroute the pex and place the pump on the water heater itself. This would mean having pump lay in horizontal position with the Timer facing away from view.

Someone mentioned re-piping with copper pipes at water heater , which would support weight of pump. However, I am not comfortable with soldering, so I would have to use shark bite fittings--which Im leary to use around the water heater in the event they leaked.

 

[Phog]

Oh I see -- you're utilizing the cold water supply pipe as the recirculation return. The recirculation pump very likely can only be mounted in one orientation, the manual would say what orientation this is, often times they screw right onto the water heater so that orientation is vertical. Install it a different orientation than the manual says and you'll see it fail prematurely.

Your setup is a bit unique, having 2 water tanks in parallel is less common. To not risk messing up the flow balance between the tanks the only place you would want to install this pump would be somewhere after the 2 hot pipes join together. So you were right in your original message up above. And yes it will be a bit of a pain to install & securely mount the pump. You're going to want to at least clamp it to a wall somehow. If it were my house I'd hard plumb a section of copper pipes as per your other suggestion but it sounds like you don't want to do that.

There are other recirc systems out there that might be a better option for you. For example one of those under-sink kits that have a pump + sensor + check valve all integrated into a single unit. Taco Genie is one off the top of my head (check the fine print to make sure it has a timer, I can't remember if that's one of the on-demand only button activated systems).

Then you wouldn't have to worry about jury rigging something up near the hot water tanks. The only trick would be getting an electric outlet under your far bathroom sink if it's not already there.