Hot Water Recirculation System? Replace it with a Demand System!

Many residential single family and multi-family homes built in the past have full time hot water recirculation pumps and systems installed.  This no doubt saves a whole lot of water, but it also wastes a tremendous amount of energy.

Hot water recirculation

Recirculating systems were typically used in larger homes, say 3,000 square feet and up.  Long pipes mean long waits, and if you could afford a big house you didn’t want to have to wait forever for the hot water to arrive.

Full time recirculation systems slowly circulate the hot water through the hot water piping keeping the water in the pipes hot for instant use.  Turn on a faucet and within a second or two you have hot water.  It’s a great convenience, but there is a penalty to pay. 

Wasting energy

Your hot water plumbing becomes a giant heat exchanger causing your water heater to fire more often and longer. Not only does this waste a huge amount of energy, but it substantially increases the wear and tear on your water heater.

Even if you heavily insulate the pipes and put the recirc pump on a clock timer, you still end up spending a lot of money for that wasted energy.  It’s not helping your carbon footprint either.  Not only are you wasting energy from the water heater, but you are also running a pump continuously which wastes even more energy. 

Tankless water heaters

Typically recirc pumps are not used with tankless water heaters because generally they don’t pump enough gallons per minute to turn on the tankless hot water heater.  Using a traditional residential hot water recirculation system will void the warranty on most tankless water heaters.

Hot water demand systems

A demand hot water system on the other hand will still save you thousands of gallons of water each year, and it won’t waste any energy.  Demand pumping systems typically use about $1.00 per year in electricity to run the pump.  This is because the pump only runs for a few seconds and only when you really want hot water.

With a demand system, you simply push a button when you want hot water, and that starts the pump. The pump sends the water to the fixture at a faster rate than if the faucet was just run.  When the hot water reaches the fixture, the pump shuts off, and when you turn on the faucet you have instant hot water.  No water was run down the drain.

Installation is easy. Simply remove the old pump and replace it with the demand pump.  Buttons can be hard-wired from the points of use, or wireless switches can be used. 

You will still save water, and you will save energy and extend the life of your water heater. Best of all you will feel good every time you use your hot water knowing that you are doing your part to reduce global warming!

There are several manufacturers of hot water demand systems and they range in price from under $200 to nearly $1,000.  Most demand hot water systems will also work with tankless water heaters. Go green with a demand hot water system today.