Water Conservation, Low Flow Fixtures, and Tankless Water Heaters

Low Flow Fixtures

Now days all faucet fixtures for residential plumbing are low flow devices.

While they do aid in water conservation efforts, they can be a bit inconvenient. They don’t save you water if you are filling a pot, getting a glass of water or where a measured volume of water is to be had. They can be a nuisance when you have to wait and wait for the sink to fill with water, or if you are trying to get hot water to the faucet.

Low flow fixtures cause the hot water to flow through the pipes more slowly, and so it takes longer to get your hot water. This can be especially trying when you have long pipe runs, or when your pipe is under a concrete slab and not insulated.

Slow hot water can lead to water wastage. It can take so long to get hot water at a fixture that many hot water users let the hot water run while they do something else before returning to see if it is hot yet. By the time they come back and check they are running hot water down the drain.

At this point energy is being wasted as well as water and the energy to heat the water being run down the drain is substantial… much more expensive than the water being heated.

Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless water heaters are not water conservation friendly to begin with. It takes a tankless unit longer to deliver hot water than a storage water heater since it has to heat the water first which can take 10 to 20 seconds longer than a storage water heater would deliver it.

To obtain the hot water temperature you desire you typically mix hot and cold water to get the desired temperature. This works fine with a storage water heater but can be a problem with tankless units when lower flows are used.

To turn on the tankless heater you must draw ½ to ¾ gallons per minute, depending on the water heater model you have. The outlet temperature with a tankless unit does not change as long as you don’t exceed the maximum flow, so the minimum flow of say ½ gallon per minute is at the full outlet temperature.

If you need to mix half cold and half hot to get the desired temperature you are then forced to use 1 gallon per minute which can often be a much larger flow than you need or want. This of course results in wasted water being run down the drain.

Hot Water Demand Systems

Hot water demand systems can overcome the inconvenience of slow hot water caused by low flow fixtures. Hot water demand systems pump the water to your fixture fast without running water down the drain. Your hot water is faster and you save time water and money.

A hot water demand system typically locates a small pump under the sink furthest from the water heater. When hot water is desired the user pushes the start button which activates the pump and speeds hot water to the fixture. The cooled off hot water from the last hot water use is returned to the water heater through the cold water piping so no dedicated return line is needed.

Demand systems are especially nice when used with tankless water heaters since you save both energy, with the tankless heater and water, with the demand system while having the convenience of fast hot water.

Solar with Tankless - Water Heater Guide - Water Conservation

Going Green? – Water Conservation Products

What is green plumbing? Well, green plumbing when applied to residential plumbing layouts, would mean plumbing that reduces your energy and or water wastage; an efficient plumbing system.

There are a variety of products out there that can save you water, but some are counter productive and some are a pain in the you-know-what. Others are certainly worthwhile and can even save you money.

The biggest factor involved in water and energy wastage is human behavior. It’s our behaviors that waste the most energy and the most water. We all do it… leave lights on, leave water running when not necessary, linger in the shower… Going green seems to often lead to less convenience. But humans are after exactly that… convenience. That’s why microwave ovens, took off. Dishwashers, washing machines, trash compactors, automatic sprinkler systems, it’s all about convenience.

Some water conservation products address these behaviors. Low flow fixtures reduce the rate at which water flows from a fixture, so we use less water when we leave it running. This can be an inconvenience though, when you have to stand there and wait longer to fill up that pitcher or sink. Low flow toilets that don’t always work with one flush.

There are numerous “gray water” systems that reclaim waste water like from your washing machine to use in flushing toilets or watering the lawn.

It’s not hard to find water saving appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines. Probably all of them now at least have water conservation cycles or modes. I recently was talking to a guy who had just bought a new Bosch water conserving dishwasher. He was having a problem because the dishwasher didn’t draw a high enough flow of water to turn on the water heater. To get clean dishes he has to run hot water in the sink while the dishwasher fills. So much for water conservation.

There are some water conservation products which do offer both convenience and save water. The Chilipepper hot water demand system is one such water conservation product. It gets you your hot water faster and you don’t run any water down the drain. The pump is very efficient consuming less than $2.00 per year in electricity to operate. Not only are you saving water and energy with the Chilipepper, but you are also reducing your carbon foot print.

Every gallon of water that you do not dump down the drain is one gallon less sewage that has to be treated and pumped etc which in turn uses less energy and thus results in reduced green house gas being released into the atmosphere.

Don’t confuse the Chilipepper hot water demand systems with one of those “luke warm circulating systems” on the market like the Laing Autocirc, the Grundfos Comfort System, and the Watts Premier.
These systems circulate warm water through the hot water piping and the cold water piping, but in doing so consume a lot of energy making your water heater work harder and costing you money. You also end up with less than cold water in your cold water lines and you must purge those lines of the lukewarm water to get cold water from the faucet.

Tankless water heaters typically take longer to get hot water to your fixtures wasting more water than hot water systems that use tank type water heaters. The good news is the Chilipepper works with any brand of tankless water heaters including Rinnai water heaters, Takagi water heaters, Bosch water heaters, Rheem water heaters, Noritz water heaters, and all other brands too.

So go green and install a hot water demand system. It’s a very earth friendly thing to do. You will feel good about what you are doing for the planet and you get the added convenience of fast hot water!

Hot Water Recirculation System? Replace it with a Demand System!

Many residential single family and multi-family homes built in the past have full time hot water recirculation pumps and systems installed. This no doubt saves a whole lot of water, but it also wastes a tremendous amount of energy.

Hot water recirculation

Recirculating systems were typically used in larger homes, say 3,000 square feet and up. Long pipes mean long waits, and if you could afford a big house you didn’t want to have to wait forever for the hot water to arrive.

Full time recirculation systems slowly circulate the hot water through the hot water piping keeping the water in the pipes hot for instant use. Turn on a faucet and within a second or two you have hot water. It’s a great convenience, but there is a penalty to pay.

Wasting energy

Your hot water plumbing becomes a giant heat exchanger causing your water heater to fire more often and longer. Not only does this waste a huge amount of energy, but it substantially increases the wear and tear on your water heater.

Even if you heavily insulate the pipes and put the recirc pump on a clock timer, you still end up spending a lot of money for that wasted energy. It’s not helping your carbon footprint either.

Hot water demand systems

A demand hot water system on the other hand will still save you thousands of gallons of water each year, and it won’t waste any energy. Demand pumping systems typically use about $1.00 per year in electricity to run the pump. This is because the pump only runs for a few seconds and only when you really want hot water.

With a demand system, you simply push a button when you want hot water, and that starts the pump. The pump sends the water to the fixture at a faster rate than if the faucet was just run. When the hot water reaches the fixture, the pump shuts off, and when you turn on the faucet you have instant hot water. No water was run down the drain.

Installation is easy. Simply remove the old pump and replace it with the demand pump. Buttons can be hard-wired from the points of use, or wireless switches can be used.

You will still save water, and you will save energy and extend the life of your water heater. Best of all you will feel good every time you use your hot water knowing that you are doing your part to reduce global warming!

Bradford White Water Heaters and Web Site

Bradford White Water Heaters.

The next site I visited was the Bradford White water heater site. As with most of the other sites I’ve visited there are a zillion models of water heaters. The site seems easy to navigate and I had no trouble finding the residential products.

If you want to compare water heaters they have a great chart showing the energy factor for all their products including tankless water heaters. The chart makes it very easy to compare the energy efficiency of the various models.

I checked out the service manual for the Bradford White EverHot® Interior Tankless Gas Water Heater Models: IGI-180R-10(N,X) and IGI-180C-5(N,X) Manual 45095A

I must say they have a very extensive service manual. It does a very nice job of explaining how the models work. The theory of operation is very well explained and there are lots of timing diagrams, wiring diagrams, and illustrations. Reading through the service manual is like taking a course in tankless water heaters.

These heaters modulate the gas valve, the number of burners, and the water flow rate to obtain a stable output temperature even with changes in pressure from other appliances or faucets being turned on or off. It’s a technological marvel.

The tankless water heater trouble shooting section is even more impressive. Again, there are no shortage of diagrams illustrations and pictures to guide you. It’s extremely thorough and includes electrical trouble shooting and gas trouble shooting and anything else that can go wrong.

The only thing I found about maintenance was that sometimes you might have to use vinegar to flush the lime buildup out of the heat exchanger. Apparently the heater displays a message when it needs to be done.

Overall I liked the Bradford white site. I found it easy to use and full of useful information in a form that was easy to understand.

That’s if for Bradford White.

Bill the Hot Water Guy

American Water Heaters

American Water Heaters.

This blog will probably be as much about the American Water Heater website as it is about American water heaters. I figure I might as well evaluate the site. Let’s see which water Heater Company gives us the best user experience, or at least gives me the best experience.


Upon first landing on the home page I found a site that is clear and concise. It’s easy to locate where I want to go and no distractions. They have contact information including 800 numbers with hours of operation listed. So far so good.

I clicked on “Products” in the upper right nav bar, and voila! I landed on the Products page where I could choose between gas, and electric and residential or commercial water heaters.

I clicked on the “Residential Electric” link, and landed on a page of listings of water heaters.

Electric Water Heaters

Basically, they have water heaters holding from 2.5 gallons to 119 gallons in a variety of shapes and sizes. Mostly 30, 40, and 50 gallon models. I took a pretty hard look, and could not find anything other than the standard stuff; TP valve, dip tube, anodes, internally coated tank, etc.

Some of the models advertised dip tubes that promoted self cleaning of the heater. Bunch of nonsense. Several water heater companies claim the same thing about their dip tubes too, but there is no evidence that they do anything.

American water heaters come basically with 6 year, 9 year, and 12 year warranties. I was not able to see any difference in the heaters. I’m sure they are identical heaters, the only difference being the price.

American water heaters also have solar storage tanks with and without backup heating elements, and pre-wired temperature sensors.

The heaters ranged from an Energy Factor of from0.83 to 0.93. Most of the heaters energy factor range from 0.90 to 0.93.


Gas Water Heaters

Next I checked out the residential gas water heaters. The gas heaters product list is a little more complicated than the electrics. There are also tankless water heaters mixed in. I didn’t even know American Water Heaters even made tankless heaters. The energy factor for the gas water heaters ranged from 0.58 to 0.63.

Most of the standard gas models have 6, 9, and 12 year warranties, and again, there seems to be no difference other than price.

American has the American Polaris® High-Efficiency Residential Gas with over 94% thermal efficiency and a stainless-steel tank and full flow brass drain valve. Pretty cool.

You can download the PDF manuals for any model of their water heaters.

The site has all kinds of goodies… a cross reference chart for other manufacturers models, troubleshooting instructions, exploded views, parts lists and more. You can find detailed information about thermostats, with wiring diagrams for all configurations.

Unfortunately they have no prices listed.

Next I’ll look at A. O. Smith water heaters…

Bill – The Hot Water Guy