Hot Water in Bathrooms

[rsetterlund]

I have stayed in TV and with family on FL. What I want to know is how does one avoid wasting a lot of water waiting for the water to get hot in the shower? Water is expensive but I do not like cold showers. One thing that I was thinking of doing is adding an on demand water heater for the bathrooms, especially for the master bath. Has anyone else done this or have they come up with another solution? We are going to be purchasing a home in a couple of months and would like to know how to solve this problem.

[zcaveman]

The last time this post went up someone suggested that you run the tap in the sink to get the water hot. Since the spigot is smaller, you will waste less water. I tried it and it works on the tub that is in the guest bathroom furthest from the water heater.

[Barefoot]

Have you checked out the post on tankless water heaters?

[Russ_Boston]

While Z is correct in the speed to become hot let's analyze the physics (or would this be geometry?) of it all. If you have, let's say, 34 feet of pipe between your shower and the hot water tank you need to empty (waste) that 34 feet of 'coolish' water before getting the hot stuff. What I had recommend was to brush your teeth in the sink using the hot water that is 'coolish' and thus not wasting it too much. Or use it to fill a glass to take some meds, or use it too fill the dog bowl, whatever you can use the first 34 feet of 'coolish' water for.

A tankless hot water system will make NO difference in how those 34 feet of pipe to the shower are handled. Unless of course you installed the tank (or tankless) closer to the shower.

[Niels]

I don't know what the solution is to this problem but my wife and I also noticed this when we visited The Villages. We stayed in one of the cottages during our lifestyle preview. It took so long to get hot water that initially I thought something was wrong with the hot water heater. I even checked the heater and it seemed to be working fine and was actually set above the recommended factory settting. The water heater was at the opposite end of the house from the bedrooms which contributed to the problem.

[graciegirl]

We have a Camellia in Hadley and our bedroom abuts the heater so it is pretty quick. Now I imagine over on the guest side, it would take a longer time to get hot water.

[chacam]

You could install a recirc pump and have immediate hot water at the farthest reaches of your home. But there probably would be a small increase in energy costs to do this (electric and gas), but no wasted water.

We find that water here in TV is really inexpensive compared to our prevoius home, about 1/3 as expensive.

[thegreenerside]

stand outside for a few minutes in this hot humid air and then go in and take a cold shower. Energy problem solved. I often help Al Gore with his energy problems.

[rsetterlund]

I was thinking of a tankless electric hot water heater installed close to the master bathroom. Does anyone know where the water pipes are installed? Are they run through the attic, hopefully not through the concrete slab. If they are in the attic then I could get a plumber and electrician to install the unit.

It is true that if the hot water pipe runs for 34 feet there will be 34 feet of cool water. But it will also take some water to heat up the cool pipe.

[Russ_Boston]

34 was just a guesstimate figuring 1/2 the length of the house with garage on average + bends of the pipe. Yours could be shorter or longer.

[chuckinca]

34 feet of 3/4" copper water pipe contains less than a gallon of water. The one gallon of cold water is in front of the hot water coming from the heater when you open the hot valve in the shower.

[WLAN56]

As I mentioned in the other thread on hot water to the bathroom; most shower's now have a control valve in them to provide hot water slowly at first so we older people and the young ones don't burn ourselves. It is a mixer valve which will not let hot water through instantly. So first, you have to get hot water from the tank to the valve and then you have to wait until the valve lets the temp build up to where you set it. Have you noticed that if you get in the shower right after someone else, you still have to wait a little bit for the hot water and this is not because it has cooled off that quickly. Check the Delta website.

[zcaveman]

I was thinking of a tankless electric hot water heater installed close to the master bathroom. Does anyone know where the water pipes are installed? Are they run through the attic, hopefully not through the concrete slab. If they are in the attic then I could get a plumber and electrician to install the unit.

It is true that if the hot water pipe runs for 34 feet there will be 34 feet of cool water. But it will also take some water to heat up the cool pipe.


All pipes are underground and they are PVC.

[Russ_Boston]

Wlan - That is why we recommended running the hot only from the sink first. This clears the hot water line much faster than the shower combo valve.

[chuckinca]

All pipes are underground and they are PVC.



PVC Pipe is not good for hot water use - it loses strength at higher temperatures. At 120 degrees it has about half the strength it has at 70 degrees.

[Frangyomory]

Everyone I know complains about getting a hot shower and as far as I know, we all do the same thing....turn on the water to the hottest spot on the shower and wait about thirty seconds. By then it is really hot, adjust and take your shower. I don't know anything about tankless hot water but can we do it since we all have hot water tanks and gas heated water tanks?????

[chuckinca]

Everyone I know complains about getting a hot shower and as far as I know, we all do the same thing....turn on the water to the hottest spot on the shower and wait about thirty seconds. By then it is really hot, adjust and take your shower. I don't know anything about tankless hot water but can we do it since we all have hot water tanks and gas heated water tanks?????



Fran:

They replace the Gas or Electric Hot Water Heater and Tank.

It's like having an "insta hot" for all your hot water system. You save by not heating the water all the time and storing it hot in a large tank until you need it.

It doesn't change the time it takes to get hot water from the heater to the point of use (shower, dishwasher, sink, etc).

[Bryant]

I take a bucket into the bathroom each time I shower. The water I collect is used to water the plants and flowers, or if I don't feel like carrying it outside, I use it to flush the toilet. It's a pain in the neck, but at least I'm not wasting the water.

[jnieman]

We live in Hadley one of the newer sections of TV and our shower in the master bath is hot almost instantly. I don't wait more than 20 seconds to hop in. At our old house in Ohio it took forever!

[tkret]

I take a bucket into the bathroom each time I shower. The water I collect is used to water the plants and flowers, or if I don't feel like carrying it outside, I use it to flush the toilet. It's a pain in the neck, but at least I'm not wasting the water.


That's funny, Bryant, because I would do the same thing in my home in Arizona and we all know how precious that commodity is in a desert climate. The outside plants loved it.

[faithfulfrank]

This is one thing I have noticed in my "new to us" Florida home. It seems to take forever to get hot water. Also, my water seems to cost about 3 times as much down in Florida as it does here in NY.

There are a few ways to help with this. If you have a regular tank water heater, you can install a recirculating pump system. Grundfos company makes a few types of these. you can either install a return pipe from the farthest away from the tank hot water valve to the drain opening on the bottom of your tank, along with a pump....(harder in an existing home) -or-

Install a similar type of pump, and a valve between the hot and cold pipes of the furthest away sink.

Either way when the pump senses the pipes are cold, it turns on a VERY SMALL recirculating pump, taking hot water back into the pipes. This insure that when you turn on the hot water, you will have hot water right away. The cost, especially if you do it yourself, in minimal.

Another option is to install a smaller, point of use instant hot water heater under the sink or faucet you wish to have hot water.

It should be noted that a recirculating pump will not work with a tankless water heater system.

There is another thread here that also explains these pumps in greater detail...as stated above, I believe it is the "tankless water heater" thread.

Frank D.

[pqrstar]

Our new home has two controls in the shower faucet.

The larger control in the dial will control only the water flow, not the temperature.

Make sure that the smaller control in the dial is turned all the way to the hot side.

Otherwise you will be mixing some cold water in with the hot and it will take much longer for the water to "feel" warm.

[JanetandCarol]

I was just reading this site, and I have to laugh. My sister and I bought our home in January, 2007. We are still working in Hamburg, NY, so we come down on our vacations to stay for 1-2 weeks until we retire. Well, in March 2008, we had visitors who stayed in the guest bedroom (3br ranch) and used the small bathroom. My cousin asked why the toilet water was hot after he took his shower. The bowl on the toilet was indeed hot. We called the warranty department and they sent over a plumber. Sure enough, the pipes were reversed and the chip in the shower was also reversed. He had to cut into the closet wall and the guest bedroom wall to get at the pipes. We had 2 big holes in our new house. They fixed the pipes, sent over a drywall person, and then a painter. You would never know that there were holes there. The plumber was so mad, that he was going to call the builder and complain. It seems that the builders use unskilled labor to build the homes and when they are putting in the pipes, etc. they are working backwards so they reversed the plumbing. The warranty department was very helpful and apologetic and handled the problem immediately. They have always been very helpful and responsive whenever I had to call them. Can't wait to come down October 24 for one week with friends. Next year we plan on retiring and then will be here for the winter until we sell our house in WNY. BTW, our sprinkler system works very well and we did install the "do-nuts" around the sprinkler heads. Really helps. Janet and Carol

[golfnut]

Thanks chuckinca for your wisdom, 34 feet of 3/4" pipe is less than a gallon of water.

[swrinfla]

For those who've been thinking about "tankless water heaters," may I suggest that you read the October 2008 issue of Consumer Reports, which has a couple of pages on these devices. CR seems to be cool towards them!

SWR

[Taltarzac]

For those who've been thinking about "tankless water heaters," may I suggest that you read the October 2008 issue of Consumer Reports, which has a couple of pages on these devices. CR seems to be cool towards them!

SWR


Link to part of this article-- http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/heating-cooling-and-air/water-heaters/tankless-water-heaters/overview/tankless-water-heaters-ov.htm

[chuckinca]

Thanks chuckinca for your wisdom, 34 feet of 3/4" pipe is less than a gallon of water.



Your welcome Golfnut!

Chuck
(industrial process piping estimator/project manager)

[Ooper]

Earlier in this post, somebody suggested that if you open the sink faucet nexto to the shower, you won't waste as much water before the hot water gets to the shower. NOT!... Fact is, you won't have to wait as long for the water to get to the shower but you will still waste the same amount. The volume of water in the hot water pipe has to get cleared before the hot water will come out. Having 2 faucets open helps speed this process but having 2 faucets open will also draw twice as much water... just quicker!

[chuckinca]

True:

And if you open four hot water faucets it is four times as fast (etc) - but you still need to dump the same amount of cold water ahead of the hot water, it just goes to four places (etc) instead of two or one.