Best Home Improvements – Home Improvement Idea for Your Kitchen and Bath

If your home has long hot water pipes then it can take a long time to get hot water, which can be quite annoying. However, an easy, low cost solution to get you your hot water much more quickly is available. It’s a solution that speeds up your hot water, and saves you thousands of gallons of water a year.

A hot water demand system is the answer. Hot water demand systems are small pumps located under a sink furthest from your hot water heater. When you want hot water you just push a button and the system speeds the hot water from your hot water heater to your fixture without running water down the drain.

The water that has cooled off in the hot water pipes, is returned to the water heater through the cold water pipes. When the hot water reaches the the pump at the fixture it stops pumping and no hot water gets into the cold water pipes. Turn on your hot water and you have nearly instant hot water.

Other fixtures that share the same main hot water trunk line will also have faster hot water from the demand system. If your plumbing happens to be looped from fixture to fixture in a daisy chain fashion then all of your sinks will have faster hot water. By placing the system under the sink in a bathroom the shower and tub are also only seconds away from hot water once your demand system has finished its pumping cycle.

Hot water demand systems work fine with tankless water heaters as long as they have enough power to turn on the tankless hot water heater. Tankless heaters need a minimum hot water flow rate to turn on, typically ½ gallon to ¾ gallon per minute. Most recirculating pumps can’t produce a flow rate high enough to turn on tankless heaters.

Tankless water heaters require longer waiting times for hot water since they have to heat the water from scratch unlike storage water heaters. This makes demand systems even more important when you have a tankless water heater.

Solar water heaters work with hot water demand systems as well. Any kind of solar water heater will work with hot water demand pumps. If you are green enough to have a solar water heater on your home then you certainly should have a hot water demand system. In my opinion water savings is just as important as energy savings.

By reducing the amount of water you run down your drain you reduce the amount of sewage that must be processed and treated. That saves you more money and further reduces your carbon footprint.

If you have a septic system it reduces the load on your system saving you potential septic system problems.

This is an easy inexpensive home improvement project that saves you time, water, energy, and money and provides you with the convenience of fast hot water. Not many home improvement products can claim that.

Hot water demand systems for providing your home with instant hot water can be purchased online for less than $200, and some systems can be hooked up to your plumbing system with just supply hoses like the ones already on your fixtures. You don’t even have to turn off the water to your house.

A very easy and inexpensive home improvement project for the do it yourselfer and the novice alike. Possibly one of the best home improvements a homeowner can make.

Best Home Improvements

Plumbing a Bathroom? Go Green with Instant Hot Water

If you are about to begin plumbing a bathroom you should consider the benefits of instant hot water with a hot water demand pump. Your family can easily save thousands of gallons of water every year and experience the convenience of instant hot water when you turn on the tap or the shower.

There are three basic types of systems to solve slow hot water problems. There is the traditional hot water circulating system, the warm water circulating system, and the demand hot water system. Not all of them are green although they all save water.

Traditional hot water recirculation

Hot water circulating pumps require looped plumbing from fixture to fixture with a dedicated return line at the last fixture. It’s extremely wasteful of energy requiring the water heater to work harder and more often to keep hot water in the lines. They won’t work with most tankless water heaters.

Warm water circulating systems

These systems have a small pump mounted under the bathroom sink that operates much like a temperature controlled traditional hot water circulating system, except the control temperature is set much lower. The result is instant warm water at the fixture.

To get hot you still must purge the warm water from the pipes. It’s faster but by no means instant. These systems also fill the cold water line with warm water so if you want cold water you must purge the warm water which of course wastes water.

Hot water demand pumps

Hot water demand pumps speed hot water from your water heater to your fixture without running any water down the drain. With a demand system when you want hot water you push a button to start the system and when hot water arrives at the pump it shuts off.

No hot water gets into the cold water line and when you turn on the tap you have nearly instant hot water. With the pump located under the sink, all the fixtures in the bathroom plumbing have faster hot water. Demand hot water systems are all green.

The demand pump should be located at the furthest sink from the water heater and will service any sinks or fixtures operating off of the main trunk line serviced by the pump.

How much any branched-off fixtures benefit from the demand pump depends on the specific plumbing layout. Short branches will have fast hot water and longer branches will take longer. Usually the main trunk line is ¾ inch pipe with the branch piping usually ½ inch pipe. The water travels much faster in the branch piping due to its smaller capacity.

When plumbing a bathroom try to loop the plumbing from fixture to fixture with the demand pump at the last fixture. Any fixtures plumbed in this fashion in not only the bathroom but in the whole house will have instant hot water once the pump shuts off.

Demand pumps are very green products, not only saving thousands of gallons of water, but requiring very little energy to operate. Typically a demand pump will consume less than $2.00 per year in electricity.

Hot water demand systems will operate with tankless water heaters as well. If you are going to use a demand pump with a tankless water heater make sure it produces enough flow to turn on the water heater.

Hot water demand systems can be very economical as well. A good hot water demand system can be obtained for under $200.00 and any do it yourselfer can install one in an hour or so. Some models can be installed with just supply hoses like your sink already uses and you don’t even have to shut off the water to the house… just the supply valves under the sink.

If you are plumbing a bathroom you can go green and install a hot water demand system, save time water and money and experience the convenience of instant hot water when you turn on the tap.

Motion Sensing for Residential Hot Water Demand Systems

Using a motion detector to start your hot water demand system can have unexpected results.

Demand systems are meant to be activated and then used quickly. Hot water in your piping cools off quite rapidly. Since a demand system shuts off the pump when hot water reaches it, if you don’t use the hot water quickly it will soon become “warm” water and to get hot you will still need to run more water out of the pipes and down the drain.

How the hot water demand system behaves a short while after being used depends mainly on how long since the system was last used. If the water hasn’t cooled to below 96 degrees the pump will be locked out and won’t start until the water in the pump cools to below 96 degrees F. You will be forced to purge the warm water from the pipes to obtain hot water and end up running that water down the drain.

If the water has cooled to just below 96 degrees… say about 90 degrees, then the pump will run again until it sees a sudden increase in temperature or if it senses water hotter than 96 degrees and then shut off again. Now however, there will be 90 degree water filling the cold water line.

If you begin using the hot water mixed with cold, after a short time the warm water will be purged from the cold water line and you may need to re-adjust the temperature to add more hot and less cold water. More details about how the hot water demand system behaves in different situations. It pretty much depends on the water temperatures in the piping.

Using a Motion Sensor

As you can see, any significant wait after you have tripped the motion sensor can cause an inconvenience and or end up wasting water.

Another thing to consider when using motion sensors to control your demand system is what happens when someone enters the bathroom while you are taking a shower? Depending on your plumbing layout and how long since the pump was last run, it could cause a fluctuation in water temperature like flushing a toilet sometimes does.

This is especially true when you have a tankless water heater. Since tankless water heaters take time to heat the water, typically 10 to 20 seconds, if the heater has been off for a few minutes you may experience a brief “cold water sandwich”.

Before you decide you want a motion sensor to activate your demand system you might consider how often you enter your bathroom when you don’t want hot water. Each time the pump runs and you don’t use hot water you are wasting energy and increasing your water heating bill. This is especially true with tankless water heaters. It doesn’t take many firings of the heater to use more energy than a standard tank type water heater loses in standby loss.

The same things hold true when using a timer based system. You can have the demand pump turn on automatically at say 7:30 a.m. every morning, but if you push the snooze button a time or two you are still going to need to run the pump again when you get to the bathroom.

Since the piping is warm you will get hot water faster but you pay the price in extra energy consumption.

For some people motion sensing to control the delivery of hot water is a welcome convenience, but for many others it would just be a wasteful nuisance.

Hot Water Recirculation – Instant Hot Water Systems Explained

Hot water recirculation systems are often referred to by a variety of names, all meaning pretty much the same thing. Recirc pumps, recirculation pumps, recirculating pumps, and circulation pumps are all the same.

In our context they all refer to the practice of circulating hot water through your plumbing so that you have quick hot water and don waste water running it down the drain while you are waiting. As with most good things there are trade-offs with hot water recirculation systems.

First, let’s examine a basic recirculation system and get familiar with how it works. The system consists of the water heater, a pump, and a loop of pipe coming from the outlet of the water heater, going from sink to sink in a looped fashion, and returning from the last sink back to the pump which has its outlet connected to either the inlet to the water heater or to the drain valve.

Recirc pumps
Often called recirc pumps, as well as recirculation pumps etc. the hot water circulating pumps are designed to slowly circulate the hot water through the piping at a low velocity. There is no need for high flow since a nice low flow still keeps the water piping hot through the entire system. High flow rates run continuously can also lead to pipe erosion and eventually require replacement of the pipes.

Instant Hot Water

As you can see, such a system will provide you with nearly instant hot water. This can save tremendous amounts of water that would have been run down the drain while you waited for the hot water to arrive at the fixture. The penalty you pay is in the cost of the energy consumed keeping your giant radiator system hot.

The water heater has to fire up more often and for longer to keep the temperature from falling as the heat energy is let loose on the environment.

You can minimize your energy costs by putting the pump on a timer so that it only runs when there are people around that may want to use hot water. Leave it off late at night and during the day if no one is home during the day. It still wastes a lot of energy but you can easily cut your losses in half in most cases.

The downside is of course, if you want hot water when the pump is not running you will have a lengthy wait. If you don’t have a length wait you probably didn’t need a hot water recirculation system to begin with.

Another way to control the traditional hot water recirculation systems is with temperature control. Have the pump turn on when the temperature drops to some pre-set value, like 100 degrees, and when the temperature reaches 120 degrees turn the pump off. The temperature sensor is called an aquastat, and usually clamps onto the hot water pipe near the pump.

Since you still have piping full of hot water for long periods of time you are still wasting a lot of energy.

If you do have a hot water recirculation system you should insulate all of the hot water piping to minimize the heat loss.

Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless water heaters generally don’t work with hot water circulating systems since for one thing most hot water pumps don’t produce enough flow to turn on tankless water heaters. They usually require at least ½ gallon per minute to operate.

Hot water recirc systems also cause the water heater to cycle on and off frequently since there is no tank for storage. With many brands of tankless water heaters a hot water circ system will void the warranty.

Tankless water heaters take longer to deliver hot water than tank type water heaters and so it’s too bad hot water recirculation systems don’t work with them.

Well that’s about it for hot water recirculation systems, a water heater, a pump, some hot water piping and a few faucets. Don’t forget the pipe insulation.

Bill the Hot Water Guy

Easy Home Improvement Project – Go Green with Your Plumbing

Looking for an easy project that you can do to improve your home? How about going green with your plumbing? By making your home more energy efficient and water efficient you’re are improving the resale value of your home and providing yourself with reduced water and energy bills and added convenience.

If you have to wait for an extended period of time to get your hot water you are a good candidate for one of the many instant hot water systems. Most don’t really provide you with “instant” hot water, but can considerably reduce your wait time, and can even nearly eliminate running water down the drain while you wait.

There are a couple of retro-fit friendly instant or more appropriately fast hot water systems that are easy to install with no major changes required for your plumbing layout. Although these fast hot water delivery systems install under the sink, they are not to be confused with under the sink water heaters. They make a good one-afternoon home improvement project for almost any skill level. If you can change a supply hose you can install one of these systems.

There are basically two types of systems, luke-warm circulating systems like the Laing Autocirc1, and the RedyTemp, and hot water demand systems such as the Metlund system and the Chilipepper pump.

The warm water circulating systems are small pumps designed to circulate the water from the water heater through the piping and on back to the water heater. When the pump senses the temperature has reached the lower set point, about 90 degrees, then it turns on until the pump senses the upper temperature, about 100 degrees, when it shuts off the pump. The system does this over and over keeping the water in the piping warm.

You end up paying for all that heat energy it takes to keep the piping warm. You also no longer have cold water in your cold water pipes. Now it’s warm.

The second type of system is known as a hot water demand system, and the pump only pumps the water to the fixture when you demand it by pressing a button. Hot water demand systems make a better home improvement project because they provide even more convenience and use less energy than the recirculating systems and will really add to the green aspects of your plumbing system.

Again, the pump mounts under the sink and is easy to hook up. With the demand system when the hot water reaches the pump the pump shuts off so you don’t end up with hot water in the cold water pipes.

Demand systems don’t run very long or very often so they typically use about $1.00 per year in electricity, and you don’t run any water down the drain waiting for hot water. They don’t use any more energy than a system with no pump since they only fill the pipe between the water heater and the fixture, just like if you ran the faucet.

If you’re looking for an easy home improvement project you can complete in a weekend, one that will add value to your home, and will provide you with lasting benefits like faster hot water, water savings, and energy savings, then install a demand system today!

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!

Slow Hot Water

I got this email regarding slow hot water and thought I would use it and my answer as my blog for today, so here it is.
Hello,My Dad wants to install new copper piping throughout his 2200 square-foot 2-story house. He is very concerned about 'slow hot water' and has decided he needs 1-1/2" insulation on the copper pipes instead of the standard 1/2" insulation.

He is calling around the country looking for that 1-1/2" insulation - and to Canada! He's found a plumber willing to install it for a higher price.
Do you have any studies that compare 1/2" insulation on copper pipes versus 1-1/2" insulation, and what the cost/benefits would be? And also, I think your pump solution sounds great, so could you show a comparison between your pump solution with the standard 1/2" copper pipe insulation versus no pump and 1-1/2" copper pipe insulation?

He has a regular tank water heater. Does he need to swap out his water heater?Thank you for your help,
My slow hot water answer

Typically pipe insulation is used for energy conservation purposes although adding insulation will reduce the amount of time it takes to get your hot water slightly.

The speed of the hot water is most affected by the flow rate of the fixtures and the diameter of the piping.

The speed or velocity of the water is dependent on the flow in gallons per minute and the pipe diameter. The larger diameter the pipe the slower the velocity and the longer it takes to get hot water.

Generally speaking it takes about 45 feet of ¾” inch diameter pipe to hold a gallon of water and about 70 feet for ½” diameter pipe. With a flow rate of 1 gallon per minute, the water in the ¾” pipe will flow 45 feet in about 60 seconds, and for the ½” diameter pipe the water will flow 70 feet in that same 60 seconds.

Since the flow is restricted by the fixtures, it will take longer to get hot water with the larger diameter pipes.

To get hot water to the shower fast, turn on the water in the bathtub full blast, it has the highest flow rate of any bathroom fixtures!
The second most important factor is the amount of heat that is pulled out of the piping material as the water travels to the fixture. That is where the pipe insulation comes into play.

If you had perfect pipe insulation and no heat could leak from the pipes, you would always have instant hot water. But there is no such thing as perfect insulation, and the heat will leak out fairly rapidly no matter how much insulation you use.

Pipe insulation is normally only used when a continuous hot water circulating system is being incorporated. It doesn’t really save energy, since the hot water will cool off very rapidly even with heavy amounts of pipe insulation. The reason 1-1/2” insulation is so hard to find is that it is a waste of money.

I don’t know of any studies that involve 1-1/2” thick pipe insulation.

Slow hot water delivery time is also related to the water velocity in another way. When water velocities are slow, the hot water traveling through the pipe travels much like a bullet would through the pipe.

Higher velocities cause laminar flow where a smaller diameter flow of water travels through the center of the pipe and the water in contact with the pipe walls doesn’t flow, getting the hot water to its destination even more quickly.

Plumbing layout is very important.

If you are planning on using a pumping system then the plumbing layout should be looped from fixture to fixture instead of a layout with T connections and lots of branch runs. That way a single pump can supply fast hot water to all of the fixtures.

About the water heater

I presume you mean should he replace is tank water heater with a tankless water heater? If so then the answer is no. Tankless water heaters take longer to deliver hot water since they have to turn on and start heating the water while the tank type water heater has already hot water to start the journey.

Tankless water heaters typically take 10 to 20 seconds longer to deliver hot water than tank type heaters.

So in conclusion, unless you live in a very cold area using pipe insulation will have a very small affect on how slow or fast your hot water delivery is. Increasing the pipe insulation beyond ¾” thick will most likely have no measurable effect.

Smaller pipes will deliver the hot water faster than large diameter pipes for a given flow rate.

Pumps such as the Chilipepper pump at a faster rate than typical flow rates available from the hot water fixtures.

For true "instant hot water" use a full time hot water recirculation system and insulate the pipes with at least 3/4" thick insulation.