Benze
New Member
Hi,
I've been reading up on recirc loops and am trying to understand which is more efficient for a residential use. Given a setup in which there is a dedicated hot-water return line, I realize that a gravity loop could potentially be used. My question is the following. From what I understand, a gravity loop is constantly working. This would imply that the hot water is constantly being pushed to the fixture, and the less hot water is being pushed back to the tank. Eventally the flow slows as the return line becomes saturated with hotter water, but once it starts to cool, the flow picks up again.
This circulation would imply that new water is constantly being pumped into the HW tank to be reheated; an obvious loss of energy.
So the question becomes, is it more efficent to have a gravity loop that is always running, or better to have a pump on a timer that only circulates hot water during "important" times (ex: before getting up in the morning, etc). To be sure that hot water is never far away, potentially run the pump for a min every 15 o 30 mins during daytime hours, etc.
Or is it more efficent just putting in a solenoid valve on the hot water return line that is closed at night, etc?
On a second note, is it possible to have a multi-branch gravity loop? ie: 2 or 3 different return lines from different branches in the house? Is there anything special (ex: check valves, etc) that needs to be done to ensure that one return loop doesn't interefere with the other?
Thanks,
Eric
I've been reading up on recirc loops and am trying to understand which is more efficient for a residential use. Given a setup in which there is a dedicated hot-water return line, I realize that a gravity loop could potentially be used. My question is the following. From what I understand, a gravity loop is constantly working. This would imply that the hot water is constantly being pushed to the fixture, and the less hot water is being pushed back to the tank. Eventally the flow slows as the return line becomes saturated with hotter water, but once it starts to cool, the flow picks up again.
This circulation would imply that new water is constantly being pumped into the HW tank to be reheated; an obvious loss of energy.
So the question becomes, is it more efficent to have a gravity loop that is always running, or better to have a pump on a timer that only circulates hot water during "important" times (ex: before getting up in the morning, etc). To be sure that hot water is never far away, potentially run the pump for a min every 15 o 30 mins during daytime hours, etc.
Or is it more efficent just putting in a solenoid valve on the hot water return line that is closed at night, etc?
On a second note, is it possible to have a multi-branch gravity loop? ie: 2 or 3 different return lines from different branches in the house? Is there anything special (ex: check valves, etc) that needs to be done to ensure that one return loop doesn't interefere with the other?
Thanks,
Eric