Are you sick of turning your sink or shower on and then waiting 2-5 minutes for warm water to finally come out? If so, your home needs a hot water recirculator to keep the hot water moving.
The reason the water gets cold in the first place is simple. Water is distributed around your house through a series of pipes. These pipes start at your hot water heater or boiler and then travel to all of the taps (sinks, faucets, showers, etc) through pipes that are usually 3/4in copper. When you’re not using water, the water is sitting still in the pipes waiting to be used. The longer the water is sitting in those pipes, the closer it gets to reaching the ambient/room temperature.
When you let water sit in the pipes overnight, the water has 6-8 hours to reach that temperature; whatever the outside shade temperature is. As soon as you let the water run in the morning, the warm water from the heater/boiler takes the place of the cold water. That’s why the water starts off as cold, and eventually gets hot. This also explains why the first shower of the day starts off freezing, but whoever takes a shower next is greeted by warm water immediately. To be clear, the second shower doesn’t get a rush of cold water because the pipes already have hot water in them!
A hot water recirculation system will have hot water coming out of your shower head in just a few seconds! Click here to read our article titled ‘Hot water Recirculators 101‘ to get a crash course on what these devices do, how they work, the benefits, and the different types. Then, click here to read our reviews to pick out the best unit for your home!