Now that it's getting cooler
Now that it's getting cooler
Meme: Sad Pablo Escobar meme moping around
Caption: Me waiting for the hot water to reach the sink every morning
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If you have the money, the most efficient way to solve this is to install an on-demand tankless water heater at every single outlet that has hot water (e.g., not the toilets). The downside is that this is a very expensive way to solve the problem; not only do you need to buy the water heaters, you need to run new electrical to every single one (or new gas lines, which would be even more expensive). The upside is that you get hot water as fast as a recirculating pump, but without the cost of constantly running a pump and your water heater.
Many years ago I lived in an apartment in San Diego that had recirculating hot water (there was no water heater in my apartment); I guess the apartment complex figured that the cost of constantly heating the water was cheaper than the cost of the water that they would otherwise lose down the sewer while people were waiting for the water to heat up in their apartment.
Recirculating pumps dont have to run constantly. Usually they are on a timer for when you most often need hot water, and the pumps arent that power hungry. For a couple hundred bucks a typical house can have one installed.
You have three issues - yeah, the pump doesn't use that much power, but it does use power. If you're trying to reduce electricity consumption to the bare minimum, a tankless water heater right at the tap will be slightly more efficient. It doesn't have to always run, but for people that don't have predictable schedules, that can result in my wasted water. And your water heater is going to have to run more, because even with insulated pipes, you'll be losing some heat as the water circulates.
It is absolutely better than running the taps wide open until you get hot water, especially if you live in a place with limited water availability. I wouldn't use my solution for anything other than new construction due to the cost of running so much new wiring.
Thank you for the info, I had no idea this existed. I'm going to install one when I redo my kitchen! It's so wasteful to have to wait 15s for hot water...
I have to wait 90 seconds for the hot water to arrive at my kitchen sink. The house is on a slab foundation, so I have no clue how the pipes are routed, but my guess is the zig-zagged them all around the foundation just for the fun of it.
You could also install a pump on your water heater and save thousands.