Instant Hot Water with this Recirculation Pump with Bypass Valve.
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Before we installed this Grundfos Recirculation pump the client was waiting 1 minute and 30 seconds before the water was hot enough to enter her shower. Now with the bypass valve at the nearby sink, drawing hot water to the master bathroom she can enter her shower in less then 10 seconds.
Of course there is always a trade off when installing luxury items. You will use more energy in gas consumption as you are now continually drawing hot water thru your piping system and back to the water heater. I had a bypass system and a tank booster on my home. My energy analysis from my utility company reported that I used 10% more energy then nearby like homes. It equated to around $15 dollars a month. However I shower 2 sometimes 3 times a day as I'm a Plumber and shower the moment I get home.
The other negative to consider is sometimes you will be brushing your teeth with warm water. If you happen to turn on the cold water side of your faucet while the bypass valve is open and drawing hot water to the valve. You will experience the cold water to be Luke warm a few seconds until the bypass valve closes.
Pros. Most obvious pro is the hot water is now available instantly and no more standing outside your shower in your birthday suit waiting for the water to get hot.
Save tons of fresh water as your not sending annually thousands of gallons to the treatment plant or your drainfild. If you pay for your water there will be a money savings of less water used.
leave in the Commets your thoughts or concerns of this type of hot water recirculation system.
Thank you for showing this. I have one of these in my house and I really love it. For some users who may want a little more robust control of it, they can have (an appropriately rated) smart power outlet installed where the pump plugs in.
I have this connected to a Samsung Smartthings outlet and so I can control the outlet from my phone. One downside of these pumps is that you can end up with excessive warm water forced into the cold water lines via the bypass valve under the sink. In my house this usually happens if the cold water isn't used very much. This can affect cold-water mixing in a shower which results in excessively hot shower water. While I don't always mind it, my kids do and so, with the smart outlet, I can turn off the pump on demand. Then I have a routine that checks every 10 minutes whether the pump is on or off. If the pump is off for 20 minutes, the routine will turn it back on.
Yes I agree. The smart plug outlets are getting pretty good. I should offer that as an option for my customers.
Up until now I thought I was going to have to put aftermarket pump under every sink just to make my wife happy, even the sinks she never uses will have to be done thank you!
Absolutely good luck with your project . Let me know if you have any questions
Absolutely good luck with your project . Let me know if you have any questions
This was the best explanation that describes how “the magic valve works, “ great videographer shots clearly see the action and plumbing explanation ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank You
Best Video for this job. Thank you! Made this project go super smooth
Awesome!! That's why do these videos.
Regardless of how the bypass valve stops the recirculating water on the cold water side is to use dedicated lines without ever crossing over to the potable water side. This system will work. However, unless you keep your water heater tank spiffy clean, you will be drinking the contents from it. Even then you cannot totally eliminate any heavy metal, cruds, calcium deposits etc from the water heater. A lot of people thought the bypass valve will stop the hot water flow to the returning line, but the fact remains that there is some hot water within the potable cold lines and you will be drinking that water as well.
Great Point that their is a chance that you might be drinking cold water that has some hot water mixed. Some parts of this country that might not be a great option. I would also like to add that you can set the timer on your circ pump to run certain hours of the day. Perhaps the hours that your not likely to pour a glass of water if your concerned with drinking water that is mixed with hot water that passed thru your water heater
Good video, thanks for putting it out here for all to see and learn. Questions..... Shouldn't there be a check valve installed as well that is located between the main water supply (downstream of the water meter) and the main supply lines to the house, or does the pump have a check valve built into it? Also, once you install this recirculation system, shouldn't the cold water lines now be wrapped with foam tape or foam insulation, since you are using them to return some heated water to the water heater? Or am I misunderstanding how this system works???? Thanks again!
Thanks for the video. Good job!
I couldn't tell from your very informative video but did you have an installed heat trap at the top of the anode rod before you attached the recirculating pump? I'm going to attach a Watts recirculating pump to my Bradford White's water heater after first replacing the anode rod but I'm not sure if I should install the new heat trap I purchased? The original anode rod had a heat trap so I purchased a new one to install but I'm unsure if I should? Your thoughts please! Thanks!
can i install this considering i have high pressure water with a pressure reducing valve with that bypass heading towards the cold side?
I was installing this system and installed the bypass valve first before the pump. What I found is I do not require the pump at all to give me hot water available. Seems the valve opens and closes based on heat as advertised but somehow the hot pushes over to the cold without the pump. This is a plus and a minus value for me as I have now increased to frequency of my hot water heater running during the day. My original intention was to have the hot water available at the shower in the mornings via the timer on the pump, now I have it all day and night. Is there something wrong with my system that would cause the hot to push thru the valve without the pump running? Its a closed system (expansion tank), pressure from main is 65psi and rises a few lbs (1-2) during heating. Expansion tank is new and setup to mfg specs. Thanks for your thoughts on this.
Rheem Tankless with the external Taco recirculation pump and the bypass valve on what I believe is the furthest fixture from the current location of the water heater. I am on my second bypass valve, and i still have issues with the cold side, its never cold and can take minutes to get even lukewarm. Would a dedicated hot water return line solve this so there is no "bleed" of hot water in the cold side?
Do bypass valve go bad. How long do they last?
Do I need the pump or I can just use the bypass valve?
I have a tankless but I don't think it has a recirculate pump in it.
The question is, is this possible in a three-story building? And if so, what should I do?
That's a great question... Assuming you're water heater is lower level and your desiring quicker hot water at the 3rd floor bathroom. Will the pump have enough performance. My answer to this question is No it will not. I have recently installed this system where the hot water piping is in the attic and down feeds the fixtures. It's performing very badly. A 3 story home I would say the pumps sold with the comfort tee bypass recirc system are not designed for that kind of head pressure.
Do I need one of those valves under each sink and shower?
You can have multiple sinks with the bypass comfort Tees
If you're just pushing back the lukewarm water through the cold water system, doesn't this mean you end up with a legionella-hazard in the cold water circuit? The legionella in the (has-been) hot water should be dead if the boiler is set hot enough, but the cold water can have dormant legionella in it that gets active and breeding because of the higher temperature.
It's my uneducated understanding legions bacterial disease is from standing water. Seems to reason that the circulation would actually help with reducing the chance of legions. It's not a huge concern here in Washington for some reason. I always worry about long branch lines that are stagnant. Where are you from and is Legions disease a serious concern where your at?
@@LearnPlumbing I'm from Belgium, I don't think legionella is a huge thing here, but we are required to avoid storing water (circulating or not) between 20C and 55C for that reason. Above 55C the bacteria are killed, below 20C they are dormant, but by mixing you can end up activating the dormant legionella in the cold water.
@Candisa Our codes require us to set the temperature no higher then 120 for Anti Scalding measures. Very little to no restrictions concerning legionella concerns. However when I'm showing clients how to set there temperature I do I form them that some clients prefer to keep there tanks at 140 to avoid bacteria growth in the tank.
Thank you for your comments
Make sure its plugged into a gcfi outlet to prevent frying the pump if a power surge happens, speaking from personal experience
Do I need a blader tank, like I see they have on top of the WH?
Rolo great questions. Yes Storage water heaters should have an expansion tank. 50 gallons of water heated an additional 60 to 70 degrees expands by approximately 1 gallon or more. To avoid that expansion adding pressure to the plumbing system the air balloon in the expansion tank absorbs that expanded water.
Longevity of the bypass valve here in the Pacific Northwest where our mountain water is fairly soft, a little heavy in calcium amd the cities chlorinated a little too much. I tell my customers the bypass valve will be the first thing to fail around the 5 year period.
Can I use this Pump for dedicated return line system?
@Kiwi-rf4jv Yes Absolutely. This is my preferred pump for both bypass and dedicated line.
@@LearnPlumbing if I use this pump for dedicated return line system, do I need to use sensor valve?
@Kiwi-rf4jv No bypass valve needed if you have a dedicated recirculation line. Install the pump on the recirc line and pump that water back into the tank. Install a check valve just after the pump on the return line and install another check valve on the cold water supply so the pump can't push hot water back into your cold water.
@@LearnPlumbing When the pump operates, water is circulated into the water heater. Is it good for the water heater and does it waste gas to heat the water?
Can you use this on a home that has the return line already plumbed back to water tank?
@ehink2716 absolutely you can use that pump. You want need the bypass valve. Pipe that recirc line to the bottom of your tank. I have a short video on it I posted a couple weeks ago.