Terri Ramsey Beavers The hot water in your home needs to be moved from your storage tank to your faucet. In many cases, this happens due to water pressure. However, this approach leads to cold water coming out of your pipe first. There can be a considerable amount of cold water if the tank is situated a distance from the sinks.
This is wasteful and surprisingly costly.
You should also note that when you turn the tap off the hot water sits in the pipes, allowing it to cool, that is another costly issue.
But, you can get around this issue by using a hot water recirculating pump. In short, this type of pump is designed to return hot water to your tank, reducing waste. It also ensures you have hot water as soon as you turn the tap on.
There are actually two types of recirculating pump which can be fitted. They are generally very reliable and effective, although having the number of a local and reputable emergency plumber Sydney is always a good idea.
The Full Recirculating Pump
The first type of pump is a full recirculating one. This is a pump that is added to a dedicated loop from the hot water tank to the faucet. The idea is that it when you turn the tap on and pumps hot water to your faucet, ensuring you instantly receive hot water.
When you turn the tap off it returns the hot water in the pipes to the tank. This reduces the energy usage associated with heating extra water and prevents cold water from sitting in the pipes ready for when you turn on the hot tap.
Of course, the recirculating pump uses electricity and it needs to run constantly to ensure you have hot water when you need it. The cost of the pump can be significant. However, if you add in sensors and timers to control when it’s running you’ll find that it can actually save you money in the long term.
The Comfort System
It can be costly and even difficult to add a full recirculating pump into an established system. However, it is possible to use a comfort system that will give you instant hot water.
This pump doesn’t have dedicated pipework. Instead, it fits into the hot supply pipe and connects to the cold. This allows it to provide instant hot water when you need it as it empties the pipe after you turn the tap off. The water in the pipe is transferred to the cold water system and sent back to the tank.
The pipe is then empty and will be filled with hot water as soon as you turn the tap on, ensuring you instantly get hot water. Of course, excess hot water entering the cold water system does mean you may get warm water from your cold tap and have to wait. But, you will solve the issue of having hot water instantly at your hot tap.
That’s important if it currently takes a long time to get there.