We are in the process of designing and building a new home. Have decided on a 'tankless' (TK-2) hot water for energey savings and now am looking at hot water recirculation pumps that cut down the waste water when you turn on the hot water faucet (waiting for hot water to arrive). Have only been able to locate pumps that either operate all the time or work on timers to work during your 'normal' peak hot water use hours. Neither suits our needs. Want one where we can press a switch and the pump only operates for about a minute and shuts off when hot water is in the system. Any suggestions?
COMMUNITY FORUM
Actually I do have a suggestion. We are doing the same sort of thing inour house. I installed a 100K BTU tankless propane heater and of course have to wait for the water to get to the kitchen while the hot water makes its way over to it. What I am going to do instead is use a point of presence system for the kitchen since it is in such an area that no matter where I put a water heater it would take a long time for it to get there. Using the pump system is only good if you have a tank. What I have is a small electric heater that is about 6" x 10" in size, and am going to connect it directly under the kitchen. The other heater isnt that far from the rest of the faucets, the bathroom is about 12' away ant the washer is 6' and the hot water gets there rather quickly. You can pick these up and just about any home center for around $170, it uses 6 gauge 3 conductor wire and a 40 amp breaker, the fittings are 3/8" so its only good for one faucet at a time, hence the point of presence system.
Forget the pumps, that will just double the amount or plumbing needed and the cost of heating the water twice. This method should be more cost effective and less expensive to install.
