Have you serached on this topic here? I know there have been several threads on this topic within the last year.

Our experience on a 4500 sq ft home. We did have hot water fast but it also cost a fair amount to keep that hot water hot and circulating 24/7. We have it turned off.

How long of a run do you have on a 1500 sq ft house?

I have one. Love it. Plug the pump into a wifi plug and you can turn it off and on with your phone.

The on/off time of the recirculation pump can be programmed so that it doesn't operate 24/7.

1. Enough to know dedicated hot return line is the way to go. Your personal decision according to time between turning faucet on and arrival of hot water,ever home varies.

2. No. Yes.

3. Absolutely yes because not only is energy wasted by water cooling off, energy is spent by ac to cool air that's heated as water cools.

4. Yes. None..

My pump only runs for two minutes after you enter hall/guest bath (occupancy sensor) and two minutes after pressing a button in master bath and kitchen sink. Laundry isn't on circulator because I don't think it helps. Why? Because continuous circulation will eventually wear through water lines, time depending on several things.

Your (op) installation is much simpler(less expensive) than climates with freezing weather because return can be ran through attic and exterior walls without special prep.

"he thinks that it would add a lot of value for user experience"

More like a lot to his retirement fund! In a small home like yours (2 level?) I doubt you need a recirculation/return line.

We had one in our old house in California, but have moved to the East Coast. I know it was on the hot water line, and I loved it. I would have another, but I asked the plumber here in PA, and he thought I was crazy. I can't answer technical details, but just know that we loved it.

@sktn77a: Well, the plumber said that he can do the "hot water return line" without charging us more (as well as the general contractor who sub-contracted the plumbing to him is OK). So I don't think he was trying to upsell. The house is just one level. The longest hot water line would be around 40' - 50' (from garage where the water comes in to the longest hot water faucet which is the 2nd bath) I think. Thanks!

We had one on a loop and we put a timer on it so it ran at specific times morning and evening. The main bath was as far away from the heater as you could get. We also put in a joker valve so it would not back flow to the cold line. Worked well.

This is something I do know something about. My first question to the OP is that in a 1450 sq ft home, how long do you have to wait to receive DHW at the furthest fixture in the home? If it’s tolerable, installing a hot water recirculator will not save water or energy in my estimation and experience - do not do it unless the need is real!

We installed it to solve another pressing issue; having instantaneous DHW was a secondary, welcome benefit and outcome. Due to water pipes being installed close to the perimeter of our envelope, we have a hot water line at our furthest faucet that had frozen twice over several decades when outdoor temperatures are in the 0˚F range. I wanted a solution that would rectify the problem - that would not involve the opening up of finished walls and ceilings to run a dedicated hot water return line. That solution only became available once the thermostatic 1-way cold water return line valve for DHW recirculation was developed.

The solution was the installation of a Taco ECM variable speed DHW recirculator pump. The 120vac pump is plugged into a Smart ‘Learning’ socket that spends its first week studying and learning your hot water usage habits day by day, hour by hour and applies the acquires ‘knowledge’ the following week but continues its learning and applies any new info the next, following week and so forth and so on to always remain as current and up to date as possible with changing usage patterns.

The ‘Smart Plug’ also has a ‘Vacation Mode’ that is most useful for us, when we are away on vacation. No water usage that would mean the Smart Plug would program ‘no usage’ or recirculating. We would then have possible frozen and burst water lines. ‘Vacation Mode’ divides each hour into endless 15-minute quadrants of 5-minutes ‘ON’ and 10-minutes ‘OFF’. A WeMo Wifi smart plug between the power outlet and Smart Plug allows us to monitor usage and activity remotely from anywhere to confirm the system is active, with no power outages or any other interruptions. The Wemo also allows us to monitor pump wattage that is a very useful metric. It e-mails a spread sheet of hourly activity, wattages and costs down to the penny.

This leads to something else that is important regarding DHW recirculation and that is to use as little water pressure as possible to get the recirculation job done. Not only to save energy but more importantly to not cause problems that were not there - particularly the possibly creating pinholes in piping, particularly older piping due to higher than necessary water pressure. Even with a high static line-pressure, the pressure is equal on both sides of an inactive pump, all that’s required is to raise the pressure differential slightly, just enough to get the job done. You don’t have to blow out your pipes creating noise and stress problems. Higher pressure is required of course when pumping water up several floors. Our 2-story home (basement & main floor bungalow) requires the DHW recirculation pump to operate at its minimum, lowest flow speed measured at only 6-Watts!

There have been constant advances in DHW Recircs. Grundfos is a good brand. My preferred brand is Taco. Again, I don’t believe this technology will save energy, money or water in most residential applications. It’s an expensive addition that I do not recommend for residential unless there’s a genuine need or you’re willing to pay to have installed and pay continually for the operational convenience. If you do have it installed, have it installed with threaded unions and ¼-turn ball valve cutoffs for easy servicing or removal should you want to sell your home and take it with you.

Taco DHW Recirculator

IMPO

SR

I LOVE THIS LEARNING ASPECT!

We have a Taco that is programmable - but frankly between home automation, the integreated HVAC and DHW, dehumidifier and 2 ERVs - I am technologied out. If that recirc valve will learn and adapt - THAT'S how artificial intelligence makes my life better!

You don’t have to do anything beyond plugging it in & making sure it’s in the ’right’ mode. It ’learns’ on its own - just like it's home-schooled!