Hot water recirculation pump or ?

[CountryBumkin]

I do not get hot water at my shower as quickly as I would like. It takes a few minutes of running the water before I can step in. My shower is at the farthest end of the house from the hot water heater. I am currently remodeling the bathroom and shower so this may be a good time to fix this.

I know I can buy a small 220V (5 or 7 gallon) hot water tank and mount it next to my shower running the existing hot water pipe into this little heater. The 5 or 7 gallon size would give me enough hot water when the shower is first turned on until the other (50 gallon) tank gets its hot water to my shower. This tank style heater runs around $200 (plus wiring/installtion).

I also have read a lttile about hot water recirculating pumps. I'm not too famialr with this. I think the hot water at the shower end is returned to the hot water tank by a pump. If this is so, I assume I would need to run a second "return" line all the way back to me heater tank. Not impossible to do but difficult. Is there another method?

How should I handle this?
Thanks

[FloridaOrange]

There is another "recirc" system which basically connects the hot side to the cold side via pump. One of the mods has it in his house.

I personally like a dedicated recirc line back to the heater with a timer and aquastat.

[CountryBumkin]

The Hot water to Cold water recirculation pump would simplify the installation. I found two (probably a lot more) companies offering this product; Watts and Grundfos. Can anyone recommend a brand and model?

[jadnashua]

Any of the recirculation systems can work by using the cold water line...if you have the luxury of a dedicated return line, so much the better as the system install may be simpler. If using the cold, it needs a valve and check valve, which may not be needed with a dedicated line.

I have a RedyTemp unit. It has its good and bad points. It puts everything at one place (in my situation, underneath the sink at the furthest bathroom vanity). It requires power under the sink, which was easy for me to provide, but often isn't available. It was easy to fish a wire down to a box installed from the existing bathroom outlet. If you can't do this yourself, then firing two professionals, a plumber and an electrician may make that impractical as often, but not always, there is power available near the WH, which is where most pumps are installed.

I've had the RedyTemp installed for about 7-years, and it's worked without problems. It has an easily adjusted aquastat knob so you can dictate how much warm/hot water gets pushed back into the cold pipes. I have mine set to keep it warm, and at the shower (closer to the supply) hot now takes about 5-seconds, where it took about a minute before. The water is adjusted to get warm to the sink immediately for pleasant hand washing, but hot is nearby. The rest of the house has hot nearly instantly. If I flush the toilet, that clears the minimal warm water going into the cold line, and I can get 'normal' cold at that sink. All other sinks in the house never see enough flow to get warm on the cold side. Having the easily adjustable temp was a consideration. I'm not sure how, or if most others allow this - my guess is that it is factory set, and not easily adjustable, if at all.

[CountryBumkin]

The more I learn about the under sink recirculation pumps the more I like the the dedicated return line concept.

I was reading the reviews of the Watts model over at Amazon, and one reoccuring complaint was that the cold water (from faucets) will be warm. I'm not sure if this would be a problem or not.

I also read one person's review that if you have single handle faucets anywhere in your house the pump will continously run because single handle faucets always allow some cold and hot water to mix. (reviewer says when you turn off cold water line to faucet and open the faucet to full cold you will still get some water out proving his point. Never tried this before but I'm sure it is true for his house.

I'll keep reading and researching. Thanks.
Any recomendations (brand name) on a dedicated line recirculation system?

[jadnashua]

Not all brands of single handle faucet cartridges allow that mixing, and most that do, only do it if they are worn. If any two handle faucet was open, you could get a little mixing as well, but generally you wouldn't...it would just come out the spout!

Any of the recirculation systems can be used with a dedicated return line. Most of them run the pump continuously and use a remote valve(s) to start and stop the flow based on the water temperature sense. The RedyTemp (that I have, they have other models now I've not researched), shuts the pump off when the aquastat senses the temp you've set on the knob. On mine, it runs maybe 40-seconds, 3-4 times an hour. I have it on a 7-day timer, so it only runs when I'm home. The disadvantage to this technique is the on/off cycles verses continuous running. But, it is as quiet today as it was when installed over 7-years, which is good for a circulator. The check valve is rated at over 1M cycles.