Wait For Hot Water
Joseph Gulaskey has to wait and wait for hot water to show up in his faucets in the winter. He lives in North Huntingdon, PA where it can get quite cold. Here's what Joe sent me:
"During the winter months and having an unheated cellar, I have my hot water lines covered with polyfoam insulation.
With that said, in the winter months we usually waste about a gallon and a half of water to get a start of hot water to come out of the faucet.
What are you thoughts, on my having to wrap the hot water lines to the bathroom & powder room with outside gutter tapes and have the tapes on just prior to and during the waking hours in order to conserve on water being wasted?
What are your thoughts on efficiency and safety?"
Joe, I don't like your idea at all. Here's why. For starters wrapping pipes with heat tape can lead to fires. Just ask your local fire department or search for stories online about this.
If you're on a well, the water costs you nothing but the tiny amount of electricity to bring water to your interior pressure tank. If you're on city water, you can do the math to see what a gallon of water costs you. My guess is less than a penny.
If you want hot water as soon as you turn on your faucets, you can get a wonderful recirculating pump that does work on a timer. In fact, you can set it to go on and off multiple times in the day. CLICK HERE to see the pump that I've got.
I did a video about this pump and you should probably watch it. CLICK HERE to watch the video of the recirculating pump.
If you don't want the pump or expense of putting it in, just save the water that comes out of the faucets and use it to water plants, add to the washing machine or help flush a toilet. There's no need to see it go down the drain.
my 93 year old mother lives in southern california and has a condo built in the 70's with plumbing (replumbing) in the attic. it takes quite a while for the water in her kitchen to heat up so we installed a small (think it's a two gallon) electric heater under the sink. hot water immediately and there's very little waste.
Hi Tim - don't you need a return line throughout the home in combination with the circulating pump? Otherwise, if the pump is installed near the water heater, you would still be waiting for hot water to reach the farthest point in the house.
my solution uses convection. install a tee fitting at the furthest point from the water heater, then run a return line and connect it to the drain
fitting in the bottom of the refrigerator. somewhere along the line (doesn't matter where) install a valve that only lets the water circulate in one direction. physics (heat rises) does the rest. this only works if your water heater is in the basement. it works well, really well. it cost me about $150 for copper, valve and insulation.
i meant drain fitting in the bottom of the WATER HEATER!!
Thanks, Tim - A hot water circulator pump is a good investment for convenience and comfort. Our home has been equipped with a Watts pump for eleven years, and it is still going strong. It does the job it purports to do. We find three drawbacks (1) the water may be too hot and difficult to regulate for showering, (2) additional under sink control valves are required for other distant hot water needs, and (3) these products do not work with “on-demand” hot water heaters. There too many positives to mention here.