[waltwl]

I'm thinking of installing pump for circulating the hot water. Would like to know from those that had it install if it was worth it and would you do it again.. Also who installed yours. Thanks

[trichard]

Had one installed last year when I needed to replace my water heater. We like it a lot and would do it again.

[DeanFL]

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ABSOLUTELY YES! MIke Scott Plumbing installed ours about 4 years ago. Adds to 'quality of life'. So worth it!
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[rjm1cc]

Yes install the pump. Assume you have a hot water tank and not tankless.
The pump should be on a timer and better yet would also be a smart pump (or the plug it plugs into) so you could turn it on for a couple of minutes.
The pump will return the hot water through the cold water pipe so when the pump is running for a few minutes you will not have cold water. I don't think this is a problem but it is a good reason not to leave the pump run all day.
You may want to install several hot water return values depending on the design of your plumbing. If you have a hot water line from the hot water tank to bathroom A and a different line to bathroom B and put the return value in bathroom A, bathroom B will not have instant hot water as that line does not have a return value.

[Paper1]

You will save water but will also be putting heat into your slab anytime it is running and paying to for AC to cool air heated by the same slab. I don't believe hot water lines are well insulated if at all so energy is being lost all the the time through hot water lines. I don't know what the delta T is between water heater and faucet but it is a consideration. If you want hot water quickly valves do work.

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by waltwl

I'm thinking of installing pump for circulating the hot water. Would like to know from those that had it install if it was worth it and would you do it again.. Also who installed yours. Thanks

Yes, installed it myself (easy if you have some cheap tubing cutting tools). For US it was well worth it. SAVING WATER was not the reason for installing it for us. You'll find a lot of folks here saying how it's a waste of money, that you have no patience to wait, that your lazy, that you should spend it on beer instead and that you'd be better off spending the money on toilet paper but for us it cut time for HW from close to 1.5 mins down to almost instant in M/BR shower and kitchen sink. While it was not a necessity is was a small convenience & luxury we enjoy and worth the $200.

[TCLaD]

Had Kiley and Sons plumbing do ours last month. Has a timer and can set it to run several times a day if you want. They were quick, efficient and took about an hour.

[camaguey48]

Originally Posted by waltwl

I'm thinking of installing pump for circulating the hot water. Would like to know from those that had it install if it was worth it and would you do it again.. Also who installed yours. Thanks

Definitely worth it. Saves water, energy and easy to install. I did it myself. Home Depot sells the unit for $200.00.

[gradnjw]

Originally Posted by waltwl

I'm thinking of installing pump for circulating the hot water. Would like to know from those that had it install if it was worth it and would you do it again.. Also who installed yours. Thanks

We had it installed 2 months ago by Mike Scott plumbing, and we are very happy with it! Especially in the kitchen, we save a lot of water and time waiting for the water to heat up. It all comes down to what is important to you.

[Bad Moon Rising]

Had Mike Scott install a Grundfos pump, works great! Heats master and kitchen instantly!

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by EdFNJ

Yes, installed it myself (easy if you have some cheap tubing cutting tools). For US it was well worth it. SAVING WATER was not the reason for installing it for us. You'll find a lot of folks here saying how it's a waste of money, that you have no patience to wait, that your lazy, that you should spend it on beer instead and that you'd be better off spending the money on toilet paper but for us it cut time for HW from close to 1.5 mins down to almost instant in M/BR shower and kitchen sink. While it was not a necessity is was a small convenience & luxury we enjoy and worth the $200.

Here’s a clear YouTube video from Home Depot on how these things work and how to install one.

How to Install a Hot Water Recirculating System | The Home Depot - YouTube

Let’s say my kitchen sink is twenty feet from my hot water heater. My shower (and master bath sink—for easy connection, as the shower pipes are buried in the wall) is forty feet. I use the shower once a day. I use the kitchen faucet many times a day. They have separate pipes. I don’t think this gadget will heat them both. If I connect the bypass valve to the master bath water lines, my shower water will be hot in seconds, but my kitchen sink water will be as slow to heat as ever. If I connect the bypass valve to the kitchen sink water lines, I’ll get almost instant hot water in the kitchen whenever I want it quick, but the shower water will heat up slowly (once a day).

Any guidance?

[centralillinois]

I love it. Mine was installed by Anthony Torri Plumbing 352-330-5900

[jwwbmw]

We had one installed last year by Mike Scott Plumbing. It was one of the best improvements that we have made to our place.
While it does conserve water, the initial purchase outlay make make the financial savings a wash? Over time there might be savings? The biggest reason to do this is the CONVENIENCE... you don’t have to stand waiting for hot water at the sink or in the shower. Buy the timer with it. Then it doesn’t need to run all day and night. Adjusting the timer is quick and simple.
Well worth it...I can’t think of a good reason “not to do it”.

[jwwbmw]

We had one installed last year by Mike Scott Plumbing. It was one of the best improvements that we have made to our place.
While it does conserve water, the initial purchase outlay make make the financial savings a wash? Over time there might be savings? The biggest reason to do this is the CONVENIENCE... you don’t have to stand waiting for hot water at the sink or in the shower. Buy the timer with it. Then it doesn’t need to run all day and night. Adjusting the timer is quick and simple.
Well worth it...I can’t think of a good reason “not to do it”.

[Villages Kahuna]

Remember, unlike up north, the ambient water temperature coming from the aquifer is nowhere near as cold as that coming from the Great Lakes or deep wells used there.

I’d call such an installation a waste of money. Remember, unless you go to the expense of installing those units right underneath your sink/shower, the ambient temp water has to “empty” from the pipe all the way from a remotely-located heater. There are constantly recirculating heaters of that type, but you’ll incur a significant extra expense for the constant heating and recirculating.

I had a tankless water heater installed well before the originally-installed tank variety failed. I’ve heard that The Villages is installing tankless heaters in the new houses south of CR44.