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You aren't describing a "problem"... you're describing your annoyance.
This first draw delay in getting hot water is a compromise design of the system.
How do you come up with that?
We don't know the fuel type of the w/h; it's location- in reference to point of use, nor do we know it's physical location (conditioned or unconditioned space), or t/stat setting. All of these things can be circumstantial to the performance of the unit/system. System being the actual supply lines; unit being the w/h itself.
a common sense expectation that the thermostat setting is as low as possible...
and a common sense expectation that the bath and kitchen and laundry will be close by.
If the design uses other than such common sense approaches...
the design will be expected to account for such.
Over-sizing the WH is the first clue that common sense isn't in play.
We have a large home with the W/H far from the shower. I installed a water recirculater. I now have instant hot water all the time, if I want it. I usually only turn the pump on when getting ready to take a shower. Flip the switch and by the time your ready to hop in, the hot water is at the shower. I installed it because I hated to dump expensive water down the drain for five minutes, waiting for hot water.
There are several brands, so available at HD or Costco. I purchased a RedyTemp. It cost a couple hundred, but makes live much more fun. It installs under the sink furthest from the H/W heater. If you have no skills at all, you can install it in 2 minutes. The only tough part is, you need an outlet under the sink. I installed a new outlet under the sink and ran wire three fet down from the above sink outlet. If you can't do that, get a friend or an electrician. It's very simple if you know how.
Google RedyTemp water recirculator.. I couldn't live without mine..
We suspect part of the problem to be the location of the tank vs. where it has to travel before coming out of the faucet. The tank is in the attic and has to go down 3 levels to the crawl before coming back up to the faucets.
Exactly, it is not the heater it is the plumbing. Without a circulating system or proximity to the heater this happens to a certain extent in most large houses.
We suspect part of the problem to be the location of the tank vs. where it has to travel before coming out of the faucet. The tank is in the attic and has to go down 3 levels to the crawl before coming back up to the faucets.
I would suggest looking into a point of use water heater for your bathroom area. That's an unnecessarily long length for hot water to travel. Not only does the hot water travel a great length, it also initially loses heat, heating up the pipes.
A 50 gallon water heater doesn't seem "oversized" for a home with a kitchen and at least two bathrooms.
Def not oversized. We have a 3600 sq ft home with 5 people living in it. And for the record MrRational, that is not bragging, nor was I bragging about the cost of our home...just my attempt to validate our frustration over the "problem."
A 50 gallon water heater doesn't seem "oversized" for a home with a kitchen and at least two bathrooms.
Come on... what home doesn't have a kitchen and two baths?
It's the number of people that are the variable (showering and to some extent laundry).
Absent a large number of people 40gal is more than plenty; even 30 can be enough.
In this case... the bizarre piping & overall distance is the problem.
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ETA: The OP reports 5 people...
He could still reduce the main WH and be fine...
if he'll also add the second 20 gal for the showers he'll be in high clover.
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