I ran across this item at Costco today (link at bottom) made by Watts. It is a hot water recirculator (pump included) for about $180. You install it near your hot water heater and it is supposed to give you instant hot water and save you over 10,000 gallons of water per year. Couple of questions:

1) Is it legit and will it really save water and energy (this is my primary objective for installation)?
2) Is it easy for someone w/very little (I don't want to have to solder anything myself) to install?
3) If it isn't that easy to install, what kind of price would I pay for a plumber to install it?

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...=1&topnav=&s=1

doesn't it need a seperate line to carry the water back to the heater.
in other words a "loop"?

http://www.askthebuilder.com/413_Hot_Water_Recirculating_Pumps.shtml

If your pump came with a 4 port manifold that mounts underneath your furthest fixture, i.e.vanity sink, you don't need a return line or loop. Grundfos sells a system called the Comfort System. With the manifold, it utilizes the cold water line as your recirc loop. However, either pump system requires soldering and check valve installation and preferrably isolation valves at the water heater. They sell compression adaptors that circumvent the need for soldering. But I would advise against it. Hope this helps.