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View Full Version : Constant Hot Water Loop For Farthest Faucet..... Help ?



awsomeears
01-15-2011, 01:02 AM
I think I have in mind what I want to do, long story short Grandmas and Grandpa's house is OLD and for ummm years ( Life of the home ) it apparently takes several minutes to get HOT water to the kitchen faucet.

About 5 years ago my grandpa or uncle Totally Rigged in a 110v instant 2gal water heater that looks like a complete MESS :alcoholic

That is failing ( surprised it lasted that long ) so my Grandpa wants another one and asked for my help, I told him NO we are doing something different and I will be taking care of it. My grandpa is the type that doesn't ask for help, so there are things that I just say " No I will do it and complete it "

I did some research and there is a Gravity/Convection way ( no thank you ) and a continuous pump that will allow the hot water to flow constantly and dump back into the return/cold pipe.

His basement is a spaghetti of 3/4 galvanized :alcoholic

This just came up Last night and have talked to the boiler guys at work and just searched on the Net....

I haven't even looked at Mynards, Home Cheapo or Lowes to see whats out there, I won't expect much since the GOOD stuff is through supply houses

awsomeears
01-15-2011, 01:20 AM
http://www.watts.com/pages/whatsnew/IHWRS.asp

:)

awsomeears
01-15-2011, 01:25 AM
The only real question I have is what happens when ICE COLD water is needed, seeing as the pump has the option to run all the time or specific times how much COLD water is needed to over come the HOT water already at the point of the Manifold....

What I need here is a simple solution and I think this is it.....

Keep in mind my Grandparents are in there early 80's they just need something that works and works well :)

floaters
01-15-2011, 01:49 AM
The only real question I have is what happens when ICE COLD water is needed, seeing as the pump has the option to run all the time or specific times how much COLD water is needed to over come the HOT water already at the point of the Manifold....

What I need here is a simple solution and I think this is it.....

Keep in mind my Grandparents are in there early 80's they just need something that works and works well :)

for cold water, set them up with a fridge with the ice and refrigerated water in it, then you will be all set!

awsomeears
01-15-2011, 02:38 AM
^ I agree ^

Not to mention when do you need gallons and gallons of COLD water, if anything the only time you need a lot of water is to Boil and at that Point personally I always run my hot water to quicken up the process of boiling water. I'm assuming everyone does that lol !!!

wrath
01-15-2011, 05:49 PM
If you can get to all the plumbing, just re-plumb it with CPVC. Iron supply plumbing is irritating. You can do the whole house in a day. In order to get the hot water there the fastest, run a piece of 1/2" straight to the faucet.

I'm assuming they have a tank hot water heater. If they do, get some nice (read Armacell Armaflex AP or better) self sealing tubing insulators. It's about $1/foot but it's worth it. You can probably get it from work since you're a HVAC guy. Do the first 2' on the cold side of the water heater and the first 4' on the hot side of the water heater.

What do they need hot water for so regularly anyway? Are they those silly old people that set their water heater to 140 and use it to make instant coffee 15 times per day? If so, just get them a Braun hot water kettle. 2 cups of boiling water in under a minute and you don't waste all that energy heating up the pipes. Ours will do 6 cups. Use it all the time to preheat water for cooking.

Lash
01-15-2011, 06:11 PM
I wonder how much that recirc pump will effect the energy bill.

I assume the kitchen faucet is furthest from the hw heater?

Car Guy
01-15-2011, 07:13 PM
I assume the kitchen faucet is furthest from the hw heater?

Yes, opposite corners of the house......

indyzmike
01-15-2011, 07:55 PM
I heard of a pump and timer called chillipepper. If I remember right, it was expensive but you could probably piece it together with better parts for cheaper.