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Why NOT get a tankless? They are awesome for bathing -- endless hot water! A little tiny thing that fits on the wall under the sink, and a great energy saver. Best $160 I ever spent.
> The pump basically circulates the cold water in the (hot water) pipe back to the water heater until it reaches a high enough temperature.
I have such a system for a similar reason. The problem is that you lose heat from the entire loop while the pump is running. This is especially a problem if the lines are not well insulated.
For this reason you may want to put the pump on a timer so that you only lose energy during times of high use. This is a bit of a nuisance.
Tankless may be more efficient if your present water heater is electric. If your water heater is gas...who knows.
I have such a system for a similar reason. The problem is that you lose heat from the entire loop while the pump is running. This is especially a problem if the lines are not well insulated.
Yeah, I have the same situation as the OP, the pipes go through or under a slab. Re-routing them the long way through two different attics is not going to happen.
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For this reason you may want to put the pump on a timer so that you only lose energy during times of high use. This is a bit of a nuisance.
The Watts/Grundfos system has a timer built in. I don't know that the heat loss is all that significant from an energy perspective, but it's not like I've measured how often the valve is open with the pump on.
Why NOT get a tankless? They are awesome for bathing -- endless hot water! A little tiny thing that fits on the wall under the sink, and a great energy saver. Best $160 I ever spent.
This sounds like the best solution for my issue. I do have some extra space under the sink come to think of it.
With tankless you still have to wait for the hot water to arrive at the faucet. Also the installation of tankless is heavy. They require a larger gas line, which means a plumbing expense, and the exhaust has to be in stainles steel because of the extreme heat. Get a RedyTemp and your problems are over...
With tankless you still have to wait for the hot water to arrive at the faucet. Also the installation of tankless is heavy. They require a larger gas line, which means a plumbing expense, and the exhaust has to be in stainles steel because of the extreme heat. Get a RedyTemp and your problems are over...
This is interesting, but not at all true. Tankless generate hot water instantly. The difference in time is not really noticeable. It is maybe 20 seconds vs. 18 seconds.
I am not sure what you are saying is heavy? Tankless water heaters weigh about 1/10th of a tanked water heater. They hang on the wall. They can be installed by one person. Even a semi handyman type (like me). You do not need to instal a larger gas line unless you have an undersized gas line. We installed on using the same gas line that was connected to out tank heater.
In out present house we had to instal a larger gas line than normal, but that is because we have a gas boiler, gas tankless w.h., gas pool heater, gas generator, gas stove and gas dryer. However a tankless by itself does not require a larger line.
Our exhaust piing for our tankless water heater is plastic (so is the one for our boiler). At our prior house it was galvanized steel, not stainless, but that one was mounted on the outside wall of the house.
However this has nothing to do with recirculating hot water systems. I do not know how those will work with a tankless water heater. Tankless come on when there is water flow. If these systems cause constant flow, our tankless heater woudl be n all the time.
With tankless you still have to wait for the hot water to arrive at the faucet. Also the installation of tankless is heavy. They require a larger gas line, which means a plumbing expense, and the exhaust has to be in stainles steel because of the extreme heat. Get a RedyTemp and your problems are over...
What is being suggested here is a smaller unit that goes under the sink, it's just for one faucet and they come in electric models.
What is being suggested here is a smaller unit that goes under the sink, it's just for one faucet and they come in electric models.
Those point of use demand heaters do not work very well unless oyu get a really good one (one that costs a lot) You need one for each thin that will have hot water. If you want to use one for a whole bathroom, you may need a small reserve tank. Mostly they are terrible. They are very common in offices in large buildings and those offices get lukewarm water after a long wait - at best.
This is interesting, but not at all true. Tankless generate hot water instantly. The difference in time is not really noticeable. It is maybe 20 seconds vs. 18 seconds.
I am not sure what you are saying is heavy? Tankless water heaters weigh about 1/10th of a tanked water heater. They hang on the wall. They can be installed by one person. Even a semi handyman type (like me). You do not need to instal a larger gas line unless you have an undersized gas line. We installed on using the same gas line that was connected to out tank heater.
In out present house we had to instal a larger gas line than normal, but that is because we have a gas boiler, gas tankless w.h., gas pool heater, gas generator, gas stove and gas dryer. However a tankless by itself does not require a larger line.
Our exhaust piing for our tankless water heater is plastic (so is the one for our boiler). At our prior house it was galvanized steel, not stainless, but that one was mounted on the outside wall of the house.
However this has nothing to do with recirculating hot water systems. I do not know how those will work with a tankless water heater. Tankless come on when there is water flow. If these systems cause constant flow, our tankless heater woudl be n all the time.
If your tankless heater is in the garage far away, it takes time, no matter what kind of heater is heating the water. My house it takes several minutes to get hot water to the shower. A tankless wouldn't make the travel any less.. I live in the desert, water is very expensive. A tankless produces hot water instantly, as you said, but only at the heater, it still needs to reach the naked guy standing in the shower far, far away.. Several minutes away.
I believe what he means by heavy is the price to install, it's a lot more due to the necessity of increasing the size of the gas line that feeds the heater, and the exhaust is very pricy because it's stainless. The only thing more expensive than buying a tankless heater, is having one installed.
The plastic exhaust lines I have seen for tankless are lined with stainless, and EXPENSIVE. Plastic would melt the first usage. Check your local codes..!
There are recirculaters available just for tankless heaters. I'm a big fan of tankless, but in new construction, not retrofit. Too expensive to install...
Tankless only produce heat when the faucet is turned on, therefore no instant hot water unless you let the water run constantly. You still have to wait for it to reach you, and when you turn the water off between soaping, you again have to wait for the hot to reach you again... A recirculator is the only answer, no matter what kind of heater you use.
The plastic exhaust lines I have seen for tankless are lined with stainless, and EXPENSIVE. Plastic would melt the first usage. Check your local codes..!
Not that I'd recommend it but it seemed to work for this coal stove... No, I'm not kidding!
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