Hot Water – Residential Hot Water Conservation Products

Hot Water Conservation Is Harder Than Cold Water Conservation

Water conservation products for cold water conservation are prolific. There are low flow fixtures; actually these are now mandatory in most areas, low flow shower heads, water conserving appliances, low flow toilets and other flow restricting devices.

There are also things like dual-flush toilets, toilet dams, drip irrigation systems, and all sorts of other water conservation products.

A lot of these conservation devices do not really provide conservation for those individuals who are already practicing good water habits. For instance, low flow kitchen faucets only save water when someone leaves the water running based on time. Filling the sink takes the same amount of water no mater how slow the flow is. The same is true with filling a pitcher of water.

Water conserving appliances often need the user to use special cycles, which are often not used.

Most of these water conservation products do not address one of the largest wasters of water in the home… the hot water plumbing layout. Long pipe make for long delays in getting hot water. Low flow fixtures make the problem worse by slowing down the hot water.

Slow hot water loses more heat energy to the piping as it moves toward the fixture, thus the wait becomes even longer and more water gets run down the drain. So what can we do?

Water Heater Pumps

There are a class of water heater pumps known as hot water demand pumps. These are small pumps that mount under the sink furthest from your water heater. When you want hot water you demand it by pressing a start button. When you push the button it starts the pump which pumps the hot water from the water heater to your fixture at high speed.

When hot water reaches the pump, an electronic controller shuts the pump off. Now when you turn on the faucet you get instant hot water and no water was run down the drain.

The pump uses the cold water line to return the cooled down hot water that was left in the piping from the last use back to the water heater inlet. They use very little energy to operate since they run for a very short time and only when hot water is demanded by the user. Typically they consume about $2.00 per year in electricity for a family of four.

Solar Water Heaters

Demand hot water systems work fine with all types of solar systems. Some types of solar systems have longer than normal hot water distribution lines and demand hot water systems are particularly good for those types of systems. It’s not what type of fuel you use free or not, it’s how long the distribution piping and how long a wait it is before you get hot water. The longer you have to wait, the more water you are running down the drain.

Tankless Hot Water Heaters

Demand hot water pumps work great with tankless hot water heaters as long as the demand system pump has enough power to turn on the water heater. Tankless water heaters take 10 to 20 seconds longer to get hot water to the fixtures than a tank type water heater. This makes the demand system that much more valuable with tankless units.

Hot water conservation with a demand system not only provides significant water savings, but it does it in a way that adds the convenience of fast hot water. This makes it much more likely that the user will actually use it, and water conservation will actually take place.

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Hot Water Recirculation

A Water Heater and a Demand Pump - Instant Hot Water for Less Than $200

If you want instant hot water from your water heater when you turn on the faucet, then you want a demand pump. A hot water demand pump system is not the same as a recirculating or recirculation pumping system.

Recirc Pumps

Recirculation pumps, often referred to as “recirc pumps”, are for circulating a small flow of water through the piping system continuously to provide you with instant hot water when you turn on the spigot. Although you get instant hot water when you turn on the faucet, the system wastes a tremendous amount of energy since the hot water piping acts like a giant radiator. The water heater has to work much harder to replace all the lost heat and that costs you money. It also produces more green house gasses.

Demand Pumps

Demand pumps only pump hot water through the piping to your fixture when you “demand” it by pressing the pump’s start button. You won’t use any more energy than normal since you are only filling the pipe with hot water, just like you would if you turned on the tap and ran the water down the drain while you waited.

The pump typically runs for less than a minute, and thus uses very little energy of its own. The pump usually uses less than $2.00 per year in electricity.

Tankless Water Heaters

Although normal recirc pumps and recirculation systems will not work with tankless water heaters, demand pumps will, if they have enough power to turn on the heater. The Chilipepper pump has enough power to turn on any tankless water heater on the market. Others such as the Metlund D’mand System pumps have several models with different amounts of power, and some models will turn on some heaters. Be sure to check before you buy!

Tankless hot water heaters require more time to get the hot water to your fixtures since they have to heat the water first. Typically 10 to 20 seconds longer. That means you run more water down the drain waiting. With tankless hot water demand pumps are even more beneficial than with storage type water heaters.

A Green Plumbing Product

By installing a hot water demand system you not only get the convenience of fast hot water, you reduce your carbon footprint. It takes energy to pump and treat both the potable water in your residential plumbing, and the resulting sewage water from running it down the drain. By using less energy for pumping and treating the water, you release less pollution and green house gas into the atmosphere.
The Chilipepper hot water demand pump costs well under $200.00, and will pay for itself, often in a year or so.