Tucson Water Recirculating System
April 17, 2007
Post Tags: Autocirc-Undersink-Instant-Hot-Water-Circulating-System , Tucson-water-wasted , Watt-hot-water-system
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When I moved here about 8 years ago I was amazed at how many homes in Tucson had the water heater in the garage and the master suite in the very back of the house. Many designs not only had the master at the back but the kitchen and laundry facilities there as well.
It wasn’t but a couple of month before I was reading articles in the paper about how Tucson was running out of water. As long as I’ve lived here there are people saying Tucson is running out of water. I said to myself then and I say it now. “If Tucson was serious about water they wouldn’t allow so much of it to go down the drain while people were waiting for it to get hot.”
This isn’t the way it is done most place in the East or Midwest.
- There the water heater is more centrally located.
- The hot water pipes are insulated
- The hot water heater is located in the basement.
Hot water is never more than a few feet away. Even when it is cold in the dead of winter.
Here in Tucson and much of the southwest, we have no basements.
- People don’t want to give up living space for a hot water heater
- The don’t mind that it is in the garage for safety reasons
The end result, the shower and sinks at the furthest point away from the heater often are turned on and left to run for several minutes while the water warms up.
Add a Hot Water Recirculating System
It isn’t hard to add a recirculating system to the home. Doing a quick search on line I’ve found two systems sold right here in Tucson at Home Depot; one for $199 and one for $219. Both systems got high marks and great reviews for performance and ease of installation.
Here are the links to see the systems, read the reviews and I’ve provided links to the Installation manuals for each system.
Autocirc Undersink Instant Hot Water Circulating System
Each of these units require a plug in. Since the furthest point is often the bathroom you would want to have a GFI (ground fault interrupt) outlet under the cabinet. If the laundry room is located at the back of the house, that might be an alternative location.
I think it should be a requirement for all new construction that a recirculating system be in place if the hot water heater is going at the one end of the house and hot water usage at the opposite end.
Not only does a recirculating system save water, it makes everyone happier to have hot water on demand. I would call that a “Win, Win” situation.
May 15th, 2007 at 9:52 am
I would agree that the placement of water heaters could be better. What shocks me even more is the senseless energy wasted from hot water recirculation systems engineered without regard to efficiency. The easiest available models use a thermostatic crossover valve which gets installed under the sink farthest from the water heater, while a pump gets installed on the water heater. This is convenient in that you don’t need an outlet under a sink to power a pump like the Autocirc or Redytemp. But what the manufacturers of these thermostatic valved hot water circulation systems fail to tell the consumer about is that these non-electric thermostatic valves constantly remain open, unless hot water is contacting the valve. That means if there is not hot water in the hot water line and you use your cold water for any reason, causing the pressure in the cold water line to drop, your hot water pipes get purged of any non-hot water because of the higher pressure in the hot water pipes. Because the higher pressure in the hot water pipes is higher then the lower pressure in the cold water pipes, because of the openned faucet or cold water being used, water from the hot water pipes gets passed into the cold water pipes even though you only needed to use cold water. Anytime that water leaves your hot water pipes city water gets put into your water heater increasing your homes gas bill. In other words, with these heater mounted pump systems the home in reality has doubled the duty on the water heater by causing water to be heated even when cold water is used in the home. That’s like selling a car that whenever you push the brakes, the cars gonna still consume gas like if the gas pedal is still down. It’s easy to see why people are complaining that they have too much hot water in their cold lines, because with these “only close when hot” thermostatic valves, if you open the cold faucet your stuck with receiving mixed hot water line water and cold water line water until hot enough water from the water heater reachs the crossover thermostatic valve causing it to close before you get water exclusively from the cold water line out your cold faucet.
Like any other product, you have to ask yourself what is the manufacturer “not” telling me that I need to know. As I discovered with the autocirc in that if your going to install their product you’ll need a water softener in your home or else the sensitive rubber components within the autocirc degrade after only a years worth of usage. I would also have liked to know before hand that their systems pump was not going to be powerful enough to deliver hot water faster then my homes cement foundation could absorb the heat from my hot water pipes. After wasting two weekends installing two different systems with unsatisfactory results, I ended up paying the extra money for the more expensive system. I think next time I’ll just skip trying to save a few bucks and avoid the guesswork and heartache.
May 15th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Runi,
Thanks for the comment and providing valueable information to our readers, I really appreciate your taking the time to let us all learn from your experience and knowledge on this subject.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:25 am
I found a product that eliminates the normal setbacks of a recirculation pump. The Hot Water Lobster instant hot water valve is the best product on the market! I am a plumber for Sears and Lowe’s and I specialize in hot water heaters. I’ve had a Hot Water Lobster for 2 years now and recommend it over any other system! I’ve had a recirculation system in my home for 8 years. For the first 6 years I went through 2 pumps! They were costly, noisy, and did not last nearly as long as I hoped. I did some research and found The Hot Water Lobster which is pump free and creates no noise. In my opinion it’s a steal at $179.95!
This wonderful unit saves water, energy, and time! All you have to do is install the Hot Water Lobster under the sink farthest form your water heater and you’ll have instant hot water throughout your entire home. It saves a lot of water that’s normally wasted down the drain while waiting for hot water.
The company I am contracted by now offers the Hot Water Lobster to all of our customers! We have installed nearly 100 of these units with only positive results! It has a 10-year warranty, and is very easy to install. It takes me 5 to 10 minutes.
You can’t beat this product! Check out the testimonials at their site:
http://www.hotwaterlobster.com
March 10th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Tony,
Thanks for sharing the information and links. The fact you don’t need electricity makes this unit more versatile than the other.