Long waits for hot water - what are my options

[Bob F]

Another alternative would be to put a small water heater upstairs. You would get hot water immediately, and the regular water heater would feed through it to give you the volume you need.

[Steve Barker]

are you 500' from the water heater or what? hell mine only takes 24 seconds and it's 72 (plumbing feet) away.

[Steve Barker]

the hot water does not go back through the cold line. It shuts off when the hot water gets to it.

[SteveBell]

Everybody else has given you good advice about pipe sizes, recirculating pumps, and point-of-use heaters.

I suggest you check your faucet. It might be adjusted so that "full hot" doesn't give you only hot water.

[jeff_wisnia]

I agree with trader4, do that experiment, and if the flow rate seems unreasonably low, look for a "concealed restriction". Maybe compare the hot water flow rate with the cold water one, assuming both use 3/4" pipin runs.

Often if galvanized nipples are screwed into the water heater tank inlet/outlet tappings they'll get filled nearly shut with galvanic corrosion which can greatly reduce the hot water flow rate.

Jeff

[bob haller]

e quoted text -

PEX is a excellent line to replace the copper with or run as a re circulate line. low cost, easy to install and doesnt radiate heat like copper, although it should be insulated anyway

[NoSpam]

For lavatories and sinks, I did home runs (direct run from tap to water heater) with 3/8" PEX pipe. I have plenty of pressure and much less wait time for hot water and lest waste as the pipe holds about 1/2 as much water as a 1/2" pipe.

Maybe your plumbing, like mine, was done by the three stooges. I could go into business selling the excess pipe and fittings I have removed. The much more direct runs helped a lot.

My house, while not too wide is 100' long with plumbing facilities at both ends. Because of this I installed two water heaters, one at each end.

Unless your house is 50,000 square feet with one water heater, 5 minutes is juse unreal.

[DerbyDad03]

re: "Doesnt get much simpler than this"

Doesn't a recirc pump require the installation of a return - i.e. another run of pipe from the source to the farthest fixture?

That might be "simple" when the house is first plumbed, but adding that return pipe in an existing house could be pretty complicated.

[AndrewV]

re: "Doesnt get much simpler than this"

Doesn't a recirc pump require the installation of a return - i.e. another run of pipe from the source to the farthest fixture?

That might be "simple" when the house is first plumbed, but adding that return pipe in an existing house could be pretty complicated. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I have a circ unit that mounts under the sink and uses the cold water line for the return. It connects with the flex lines to the faucet and has a timer and aquastat. From 5am to 10am it keeps 100 deg water at that fixture. works well & I've had it about 4 yrs.

Andrew

[Red Green]

theedudenator wrote in news: [e-mail]:

How about from a bathtub spout (not the showerhead)? They usually put out some volume water. Choose the one nearest the hot water source.