Replace hot water recirculating pump.

[Coach H]

Our family owns a summer home that has a dedicated recirculating line for the hot water. The recirculating pump died a couple years ago and now the hot water takes over two minutes to reach the shower. I have attached drawings of the hot water flow I put together. Based on the layout, I am considering cutting off the recirculating line and adding 3 feet of pipe to create a loop at the end of the house where the showers and sinks are which would shorten the hot water path by 40 feet (these changes are shown in red on the second drawing.) My other option is to install a new pump, but I would want one that is not constantly running since there are many weeks in which the house is not occupied.

I would appreciate the advice of someone more experienced as to which option makes the most sense. Thank you.

 

[Jeff H Young]

If the kitchen and wet bar arent needed circulated sure ditch the pump but I love the nearly instant hot . I would think a timer and t stat combined with some pretty low tech options like pul the cord when you leave for weeks or im sure a not so expensive option for a online control not terribly diferant than peopl use for irrigation sprinkler controls do you have internet ?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[bigb56]

To install a pump that won't run when not needed just connect it either to the bathroom light switches or to a separate spring wound timer switch. I put a small pump under the last fixture that is thermostatically controlled and on a timer as well, so it never runs when not needed. The pump also came with a remote but the shortest run time option when using the remote is 1 hour which means the pump will keep cycling for that hour as the water cools down which I didn't want as I have a tankless that fires every time hot water is used. For a tank model this probably wouldn't be an issue for you.

Another way to do it if you are a little tech savvy is to install a WIFI outlet and connect it to a home automation hub or Amazon Alexa, then set up a command with Alexa that will energize the WIFI outlet for two minutes.

The pumps I used are on Amazon and called PROZRTED and the 3 I have are working flawlessly for 3 years now. I'll post a link below.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BC15WJRF?th=1

 

[Coach H]

Thank you for the input. The pumps are not as expensive as my plumber had led me to believe, and the technology would allow me to only run when needed. I assume I would need a check valve to prevent back flow.

 

[Reach4]

Many hot water recirculation pumps have integrated check valves. Check the installation instructions.

 

[bigb56]

Thank you for the input. The pumps are not as expensive as my plumber had led me to believe, and the technology would allow me to only run when needed. I assume I would need a check valve to prevent back flow.

I had a recirc loop but when I connected my pumps I closed that loop.

There is a check valve in the pump, however one thing you will notice if you put it under a sink, since it pumps into the cold side to bring you the hot it will put some hot into the cold side just before it shuts off, so when you first use the cold it will be warmish.

Since my house is plumbed with 3 separate branches I needed 3 pumps to cover everything. BTW it's a pretty simple DIY install under a sink and it comes with everything you need. But in your case couldn't you put it where the old pump was?

 

[bigb56]

When I wired homes I always ran a wire from the master bath light switch to an outlet near the water heater. Then the pump can plug into the outlet and will only run when someone switches on the bathroom light.