How to Get Faster Hot Water...Without a Recirculating Pump!

[@Jean-Marc-b3x]

Let me add to your great ideas. On initial construction of my house, my plumber had given me the strong advice to install a return pex line from the furthest point of usage in the house. Brilliant. Years after, I have installed a Grunfos recirculating smart pump that learns your habits and consume under 10 watts 95% of the time. It has now been 5 years, so let me tell you a fun fact that I have come to realize last year. First, I have to mention that I put the pump on sleep mode in the 3 seasons other than the winter to reduce un-necessary heat loss in the house. In the winter, the lost heat out of the pipes only contribute to the heating of the house, no waste here. A great feature on these smart pump is an anti-scale feature that makes the pump work for about 30 sec. a day. Great, less maintenance and longer life of product. The loop comes back to the bottom of the hot water tank, by what would normally be the scavenge drain. Well, last year, when I went to put the recirculating pump on the " summer mode or sleeping mode", I forgot to close the ball valves at the bottom of the drain going into the tank. Going in the shower, I noticed I still had instant hot water. That means that I don't even need a recirculating pump, as long as I allow the circulation in the loop system to happen, warm goes up, colder goes down just like density change with air, I have hot water all the way up. I obviously have learn to ensure I close the ball valves in the 3 warmer seasons to ensure I don't heat the house when I want to air condition it! I live in Montréal, fair winters...I hope this help the simplicity of your system and help save money!

[@johnrockwell9026]

Really clear and super informative, Allison. Bravo!

[@TheEnergyVanguard]

Thanks, John!

[@frankgall6]

Omg how have I never thought of or seen this. Game changer!!! 👏👏👏🙏🙏

[@TheEnergyVanguard]

Yep!

[@ryansoo4000]

Hello, great video! A while ago Corbett Lunsford on his KZbin channel Home Performance did a video about PEX plumbing and one of the environmental experts he interviewed mentioned that most homeowners aren’t told by the manufacturers of PEX (and other plastic water pipes) that they should flush out their pipes by continuously running water through them for approximately 2 weeks after they are first installed in order to eliminate most of the contaminants leaching out of the plastic. Have you heard of this recommendation yourself?

[@TheEnergyVanguard]

Thanks! Flushing the pipes continuously for two weeks would be an enormous amount of water, and I haven't seen anyone else recommend such a long flushing time. From my research on this topic, I think it's too early to draw hard and fast conclusions about the safety of PEX tubing. There's just not enough science yet.

[@johnhunter4181]

That wouldn't apply to hot water for washing. Nobody is drinking from the hot tap are they?

[@TheEnergyVanguard]

They shouldn't be, but I've discovered that not everyone knows that. I guess they need to see a photo of what's in the bottom of their water heater tank.

[@Dylan-tk1nf]

Won't this reduce water pressure in shower and sinks from being smaller diameter pipes?

[@TheEnergyVanguard]

Yes, it will. That's why you need to start with a high enough pressure for the size pipe you're using (as well as the flow rate and length of pipe). I linked to the Plastic Pipe Calculator in the description, and it will tell you how much pressure drop you'll get.

[@daleflaherty]

Ridiculous video and thr manifold is stupid as there was no equal pressure to all the pipes

[@TheEnergyVanguard]

Thanks for at least giving a specific criticism. It's easy to call something ridiculous and stupid. But your one specific has no validity here. I doubt there's a single residential plumbing system in the world that has equal pressures in each branch. And they don't need to be equal. What matters is that you get the proper flow rate with good pressure at the tap. And this system provides that.

[@jameskitzmann6268]

What he has shown will work with a few exceptions. Newer fixtures use far less water (gallons per minute) than older fixtures and can handle smaller supply pipes. If you have older fixtures or have removed the flow restrictors than this will need to be tweaked some. Also as he said at the end this will not meet any code in the USA that I'm aware of.

[@TheEnergyVanguard]

Thanks for following up, @jameskitzmann268. The code restriction is a little different than not meeting code anywhere in the US. Using 1/4" tubing doesn't meet the prescriptive code, but you can get it approved by having an engineer sign off on it. Using 3/8" tubing is allowed in the prescriptive code, and that's what I used for my two longest runs.