Do you have to run water forever before it finally gets hot at your kitchen sink or shower?
When we bought our Cottage In the Woods (that’s the “name” of our house – a wonderful southern tradition. There’s a sign out front that gives the name/date established . . . but I digress), this was 
something we noticed right away. We have well water. I grew up visiting my grandparents who also had well water and feared for 60 years it would go dry. So when we would visit, we’d take a bath in two inches of water.
With today’s eco-consciousness, I couldn’t help but feel guilty running the water more than a minute to get hot water to the sink. The water tank was 100 feet away in the farthest corner of house and the kitchen sink and laundry room are at the opposite side of the house.
As we prepared for the kitchen remodel and made of list of things that needed to get changed, getting hot water faster was near the top of the list. I’m not talking a hot water dispenser for coffee or tea but for washing dishes.
The answer to my dilemma was a re-circulating pump. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I know this isn’t a sexy topic, but let me tell you how much better life is without feeling guilty over running water down the drain for a minute or more!
I happened to turn on the radio one Saturday morning as I was on my way to meet with a client and the home improvement guy was talking about this exact issue. The Lord works in mysterious ways! ;o) I made a mental note since our remodel was a year down the road.
I won’t go into details but in essence the system sets up a bypass so that the hot water has it’s own “commuter lane”, if you will, that allows it to bypass water sitting in the pipes between the hot water tank and your sink, shower, etc. Many pumps have timer systems that allow you to schedule when you want the pump to be on. Best of all, the energy use is that of a household light bulb.
The installation is probably best suited for your plumber but the total tab should cost you under $300 – $500 pump, copper plumbing and labor.
Right now we don’t have a kitchen sink . . . or a washing machine hooked up. But the pump is already getting rave reviews in the bathrooms. I have water almost instantly at the sink and in the shower. I’m looking forward to getting hot water quickly at my new, old-fashioned-wall-mount kitchen sink – if it ever arrives!
Comments on this entry are closed.