What is a hot water demand system and what can it do for you?

A hot water demand system is an inexpensive way to conserve water and add the convenience of instant hot water (when you turn on the tap).  Your hot water is delivered rapidly from your water heater to your fixtures without running any water down the drain. It’s a good way to make your hot water plumbing green.

The Chilipepper hot water demand system has the most powerful pump of any residential hot water demand system gets your hot water to you faster than any other demand system, and it has the lowest cost. 

Tired of waiting for slow hot water?

If you have to stand around waiting for your hot water to reach your sink or shower while you run gallons of water right down the drain, then you need a hot water demand system.

The Chilipepper pump works with any kind of water heater including solar, tankless, oil, boiler, natural gas, propane, wood burning, gas storage and electric storage.  The only requirement of the water heater is that it have a common cold water connection with the cold water fixtures.   That’s all that is required.  How the water gets heated makes no difference.

The Chilipepper has a powerful enough motor that it will turn on any tankless water heater on the market.  It works on Rinnai, Bosch, Takagi, Navien, Noritz, and any other model. Not only can it turn on any tankless model, but it will also work with pipe runs of over 400 feet depending on pipe diameter and other factors.

Old fashioned recirculating pumps waste energy

Standard hot water recirculating pumps drive up your energy bills since you must keep your pipes full of hot water.  The same is true to a lesser degree of the warm water circulating systems which are popular these days such as the Laing Autocirc 1, the RedyTemp, the AstroExpress, Watts Premier, and the Grundfos Comfort System. 

Even the thermo siphon type units such as the Nibco and Hot Water Lobster make your hot water heater work harder and increase your water heating bill.

Hot water demand systems do NOT waste energy!

Not so with the Chilipepper.  It only fills the pipe between you and the heater with hot water, and you would have to do that to get hot water anyway. There is no increase in energy consumption.  Since the pump only runs for a few seconds, and only when you want hot water, the cost of running the pump is very low. Typically for a 4 person home it would require less than $2.00 per year in electricity costs.

The Chilipepper comes with a push button and a 6 foot connection wire.  You can add more buttons and longer wires, as many buttons as you wish and wires as long as you need.  You can also activate it with X10 remote controls.  You can even use buttons and remote controls both. If your Chilipepper hot water demand system covers more than one location you will probably want to use remotes so you don’t have to string wires.

The Chilipepper mounts under the sink furthest from your water heater. Hoses are used to connect the Chilipepper to your plumbing with a couple of T fittings which are included with every Chilipepper.  You will need an electrical outlet to plug it into. The pump comes with a 6 foot long 3 pronged power cord.

When you push the start button the Chilipepper begins pumping the hot water from the water heater to the fixture at high speed, returning the cooled off hot water left over from the last hot water usage back to the water heater inlet through the cold water piping.  When hot water reaches the pump it shuts off.  When the pump shuts off you can turn on the faucet and have nearly instant hot water.

There are several safety features built into the Chilipepper.  To meet International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) guidelines for hot water demand systems a demand system must lock out once the water temperature reaches 96 degrees.  The pump must not run until the temperature drops back down to below 96 degrees.

If the Chilipepper does not detect the arrival of hot water within 3 minutes it shuts off anyway.  One reason for this is if there is a problem with the water heater and there is no hot water to shut off the Chilipepper then it won’t run forever. 

Tankless considerations.

Most hot water delivery systems will not work with most tankless water heaters.  Most tankless water heaters require from ½ gallon per minute to ¾ gallons per minute to turn the unit on and keep it on. The warm water circulating systems like the Grundfos, Laing Autocirc, and Astro Express don’t have enough flow to turn on the tankless heater. This is also true of all thermo siphon systems like the Hot Water Lobster and the Nibco device.

Not all hot water demand systems produce enough flow either. The Metlund S-50T is not recommended for tankless hot water for that reason, and the Metlund S-70T is only recommended for systems with short piping runs.  The Chilipepper however produces about 3 gallons per minute of flow and can turn on any tankless water heater made.

 It can also work with longer pipe runs than any other hot water demand system.

Dedicated Return Lines

If your plumbing is equipped with a standard hot water circulating system and has a dedicated return line, then you can simply replace the standard recirculating pump with a Chilipepper and start reaping the benefits.  You will see a substantial saving on your water heating bills.

Map Your Plumbing Layout

If you aren’t sure how your plumbing is configured then there is a straight forward way to find out where to locate your hot water demand system and whether you need more than one pump to cover your entire system.

When your pipes are all cold, like the first thing in the morning, go to the sink that you believe to be the one furthest from your water heater and turn on the hot water faucet.  Let it run until the hot water reaches the faucet and then turn it off. Now go to the fixture that is the next furthest from the heater and turn on the hot water faucet. Time how long it takes to get hot water.

If it shares a common hot water feed pipe then it will get hot water faster than usual.  You can get a one gallon milk jug and measure how much water gets run down the drain while waiting for hot water.

By repeating the process at multiple fixtures after letting the pipes cool between measurements you can determine where is the most beneficial location for the pump and whether you need more than one pump for your home.

Turn your hot water plumbing system green with a hot water demand system and start saving time water and money!

Chilipepper Sales 1380 Greg St., # 221 Sparks Nevada,      89431       PH (775)-359-1223