Home Free: Make Your Hot Water Heater Faster and Cheaper

You are wasting water, lots of it. And you do it every morning.

How? Well, between 11,000 to 16,000 gallons of water a year is wasted by the average household as they let water run down the drain until it gets hot enough to use. That's a lot of money in water and sewerage costs on your utility bill, not to mention a waste of a precious natural resource.

Now I like hot water quickly at a faucet and a hot shower as much as anyone, and hot water from our faucets is a creature comfort we have come to rely upon these last hundred years or so. But the way most home plumbing systems are designed, the "hot" water in your hot water pipes will cool off quite a bit because they set unused overnight. So the last time you use hot water, it leaves the water heater hot, then sets in the pipe and cools off until it is called for duty (in the morning or evening, hours later) and comes out cold. You then let it run and run until the new hot water from the water heater replaces all the room temperature water in the hot water pipes and that's how you are wasting water!

What options do you have? Well, you can use a tank-less point-of-use water heater for instant hot water from your sink or shower, but that can get pretty expensive.

A better way is to use a really cool little device called a hot water recirculation pump. The recirculation pump takes the cooled off hot water setting in your hot water line back to the water heater (through the cold water line) and the result is hot water with very little wait time, around 60 - 80% faster than your standard home water heater setup.

The recirculation pump will mount on or near your existing water heater. They come in an electric version and an electronic version. The electric version is least expensive and will usually work on a timer. The electronic version allows some neat features like a motion sensor at the faucet to activate the recirculation pump.

These recirculation pumps range in cost from $200 to $600 depending on the type you purchase but save you hundreds of dollars in wasted water bills plus they add a level of convenience you have probably never before experienced. So try a hot water recirculation pump on your water heater and save money and enjoy that hot shower!

Sometimes "getting into hot water" is a good thing!

Bob Formisano is an architect and builder with over 25 years experience in home renovation, architectural design and construction and writes on home repair for About.com as their Home Repair Guide (author). In 2004 Bob also founded Home-Cost.com, a website providing on-line new home building construction cost estimating.