Taco pumps? Sounds like a food-eating contest victory move. It does create circulation…of your hot water!
One of the questions we get a lot here at Water Heaters Only, Inc. concerns hot water wait times. People don’t want to wait forever for their shower to get hot. Not only that, but with the drought here in California, these long wait times mean the water is wasted, literally going down the drain.
According to the Department of Energy, the average household wastes roughly 12,000 gallons of water per year waiting for the shower to get hot. These long wait times often occur in the bathrooms that are the furthest from the water heater. But there is a cure these “waiting for hot water” ills and the cure often is a circulation pump.
WHAT IS A CIRCULATION PUMP?
Basically, circulation pumps distribute water throughout the home in a much quicker way than those without one. In the case of a circulation pump for a water heater, the pump circulates the hot water so that it is readily available throughout the home. The pump can be placed at the water heater or in the bathroom that is furthest from the water heater. In most cases, the pump needs to have its own dedicated plumbing line. That’s because it is circulating hot water and if it didn’t have its own line, hot or warm water would be in the cold water line as well. Using a dedicated line just for the circulation pump, the hot water is ready and the cold water in your plumbing remains cold.
If your home does not have a dedicated return line, there are solutions for that as well (see LET’S TALK TACO below).
The most common circulation pump is constantly running as it needs to keep the hot water moving through the pipes. However, there are different solutions to that problem including putting the circulation pump on a timer so that it works when there is a heavy demand for hot water such as in the mornings when most people will take a shower.
There are also so-called “on demand” type circulation pumps. These are often turned on by the homeowner pushing a button, which then starts the hot water flowing through the pipes. Some are even controlled by a remote, allowing you to lie in bed and simply push the button on the remote and have hot water when you get out of bed and are ready to take a shower.
LET’S TALK TACO
So which is the best brand? We don’t take sides here at Water Heaters Only, Inc. but we, in general, we really like the Taco (pronounced Tay-koh, for the record) brand of circulation pumps.
Taco offers a wide range of pumps that work in many more households than before. If you would like more information about Taco, just go to their website here: https://www.taco-hvac.com/
One of the newer products being offered by Taco is called the Hot-Link. It’s an easy retrofit pump that is basically installed at the fixture where the hot water is really needed, such as a back bathroom. The Hot-Link is mounted under the sink between the hot and cold pipes. It then connects the two pipes thus allowing your existing plumbing to be used. This helps avoid having to install a dedicated return line. When hot water is needed, the Hot-Link system valve opens and the hot water is drawn through the plumbing, but instead of the cold lines being filled with hot water, the Hot Link system actually cools down the hot water. This also allows the hot water lines to remain hot.
Find out more about the Taco Hot-Link system here: https://www.taco-hvac.com/products/systems/instant_hot_water/hotlink/index.html
WHEN YOU’RE READY TO TALK CIRCULATION PUMPS
So, now you’re interested in getting a circulation pump. First thing you should do is give us a call at (408) 279-8899 and one of our water heater experts will be happy to help you with your decision. You can then decide to have one of our technicians come out and give you a free estimate. They will take a look at all your bathrooms, the water heater and the plumbing and then they will give you a detailed estimate based upon what is best for you and what will best fulfill your hot water needs. Again, just give us a call at (408) 279-8899 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and we can begin the discussion about whether a circulation pump may be right for you.