Hot water on demand units
 

Has anyone in TV installed a Hot water recirculate devise that stops the wasted gallons of cold water down the drain waiting for the hot to arrive.

Here in NY no big deal. In my Village home all I hear is quarters running down the drain for the VCDD sewer tax wasted fresh water and hot water electric.

Also timers for electric water heater on or off?

Herv

I've thought about installing one of those instant hot water heaters under the sink since my kitchen takes enough water running waiting for hot water to fill a bath tub. Even then it really isn't that hot compared to the sink in my garage near the water heater. I hope someone can give us some good inflo.

I had a unit like that installed over the hot water heater. There was also a device put under the sink in the master bath. You can set a timer to when you want the hot water recirculated. It was installed by Solar Lights and More of Ocala. Their number is 1-800-347-9664.

John

There are systems that keep your water circulating. Do a web search. Here is an example. I am not recommending, just trying to give you a possible solution to research that you may not have known about.

Instant Hot Water Recirculating System - New Products - Watts

We had one installed a couple of years ago with a timer. Works great. See:
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...36/#post359129

We had to have a hot water recirculating pump installed as we had no hot water in the master bath. A timer was installed, also. Works like a charm, and was better than some of the suggestions we received, like raising the temperature of the hot water at the water heater. We had it done by the plumber who did the original plumbing work on the house...Mike Scott Plumbing.

If you are handy, the units are available at Home Depot and Lowes.

I just closed on my house and the one thing I regret not doing is putting in an instant hot water faucet. We have one here in Michigan and Mom loves it!!! I sure hate to put it in now as they would have to cut through the granite. Yikes!

I think you can do a splice into the existing hot water line leading upto the existing faucet.

HOwever, to have another hole drilled is no big deal either.

Our neighbor's hot water tank broke and needed to be replaced. He looked into replacing it with the instant hot water instead. He indicated the cost to replace the traditional hot water tank was considerably cheaper and it would take a long time before he would see the break even cost.

The initial cost is more but ours (gas) paid for itself in less than two years. Sure was nice having all that hot water and never running out!

Just be aware of the maintenance involved if you are experiencing hard water. Clogs up the heat tubes. Our plumber here up North doesn't recommend them, also takes a bit of time if more than one wants to shower back to back and the demand increases.

As far as never running out that basic hot water tank can be upgraded by adding a super stor tank.

I have one in NY for 20 years never ran out.

No
 

Jimbo- Were getting off track here.

Not running out of hot water, getting the hot water to the shower quicker so one does not wait 45 seconds + for hot water. That is such a waste of fresh water.

In you garage you have hot instantly. As you progress to the master Bath is is like a Heines Ketchup Commerical. Anticipation!

I am not installing a instant hot water heater. They do NOT work well with electric if I had Gas then yes.

I do not have to worry about scale as I have a total whole home water system.

I was wondering about the water heater pumps and bypass systems you see at lowes or home depot. I have read some don't work very well as the valves fail? Was looking for information from those that have them in service.

Herv, ok to refocus found this

How Much Energy is Wasted?

The systems vary in how much energy is wasted. The ones that run a pump 24/7 obviously waste more heat and electricity. The ones that work off a timer or thermostat would save some of this waste, but not nearly all of it.

The "demand" systems would be much more efficient, since they only circulate water when its actually needed.

I estimated the energy waste for recirculation by measuring the amount of energy my gas water heater uses with and without the recirculation loop enabled. With the recirculation system on, the gas burner comes on every 1.25 hours for 5.1 minutes. With the recirculation system off, the burner comes on every 5 hours for 5.1 minutes. All of these measurements were taken over the night period when no hot water was being used. If you go through the math on this, it comes out to 200 gallons of extra propane wasted per year to support the recirculation system. Or about $400yr.

I know we don't use propane but elec cost must be close.

Add the cost of the install ( I saw $700) and possible failure of valves etc.

Now how much a gallon is water at TV?

A shower uses 7 GPM, with a water saver head you can bring that to about 2.5 GPM.

How many minutes does the shower take to get hot?

Or how many quarters?


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