breece
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Hi, searched for this topic but didn't find anything that quite addressed it.
We have a brand new house built within the last year. It is approx. 3900 sq feet (2 stories) and was equipped with a hot water circulator. We have a gas water heater with a 75 gallon tank. The water thermostat is set at the "A" setting (approx. 130 degrees F).
When the circulator is off, it takes approximately 6 minutes (I have timed it) for the water to become hot in the kitchen sink. The kitchen is quite close to the garage where the tank is located.
With the circulator on, the water is hot within seconds.
So, what's the problem you may ask?
Question 1) Regardless of the circulator, does the 6 minute hot water latency suggest there are any problems with our plumbing?
Question 2) Are there any issues with leaving the hot water circulator on all the time? I have the circulator on a timer, but I find that even leaving the circulator off for 45 minutes will prevent us from getting hot water relatively quickly (within a few minutes). The builder told me we should avoid using the circulator since it is very hard on the pipes, but then backtracked when he saw how long it took us to get hot water with the circulator off. I am a little concerned about the energy costs and potential wear and tear on pipes from leaving the circulator on all the time and want to ensure that the circulator is not compensating for/masking an underlying problem with our plumbing.
Note, a new baby means that we temporarily need access to hot water even in the middle of the night. After the baby sleeps through the night, we'll at least be able to turn the circulator off while we sleep.
Thanks for your answers and insight.
We have a brand new house built within the last year. It is approx. 3900 sq feet (2 stories) and was equipped with a hot water circulator. We have a gas water heater with a 75 gallon tank. The water thermostat is set at the "A" setting (approx. 130 degrees F).
When the circulator is off, it takes approximately 6 minutes (I have timed it) for the water to become hot in the kitchen sink. The kitchen is quite close to the garage where the tank is located.
With the circulator on, the water is hot within seconds.
So, what's the problem you may ask?
Question 1) Regardless of the circulator, does the 6 minute hot water latency suggest there are any problems with our plumbing?
Question 2) Are there any issues with leaving the hot water circulator on all the time? I have the circulator on a timer, but I find that even leaving the circulator off for 45 minutes will prevent us from getting hot water relatively quickly (within a few minutes). The builder told me we should avoid using the circulator since it is very hard on the pipes, but then backtracked when he saw how long it took us to get hot water with the circulator off. I am a little concerned about the energy costs and potential wear and tear on pipes from leaving the circulator on all the time and want to ensure that the circulator is not compensating for/masking an underlying problem with our plumbing.
Note, a new baby means that we temporarily need access to hot water even in the middle of the night. After the baby sleeps through the night, we'll at least be able to turn the circulator off while we sleep.
Thanks for your answers and insight.