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You are here: Experts > Home/Garden > Home Improvement/Repair > Plumbing in the Home > Kitchen sink hot water
Expert: Dana Bostick - 11/10/2009
Question
Brand new home built in May 2009. Electric hot water heater is located about 25 feet away. Water pressure never changes but it takes 5 minutes to get hot water to the kitchen sink. I personally don't think the water temperature is as hot as the erst of the home. All other faucets in the home have hot water almost immediately (within seconds) and they are completely across the home. We have already replaced the faucet itself. Any suggestions. Our builder doesn't seem to think it is a problem. Any suggestions? Thanks for your time.
Answer
Hi Gail,
The "standard" I follow says that you should have hot water at any fixture in a minute or less. if this is not happening, you are wasting energy and water.
This somewhat depends on the piping material and if there is a recirculating system installed.
Copper piping is a good material but it is also a great radiator of heat. If it is not insulated, it can loose heat to the air pretty rapidly, especially if the pipes run through unheated spaces like under the house or worse, underground.
So the steps to correct this are:
1. make sure all reachable hot water piping is insulated.
2. make sure the kitchen is ON the recirc loop if there is one. If there is a recirc system and it is NOT on the loop, it should have been and the builder (his plumber) messed up.
3. Add a recirc pump to the kitchen line alone. Here is one of them:
http://www.toolbase.org/Technology-Inventory/Plumbing/hot-water-recirculation
4. Add a "point of use" water heater at the kitchen.
There are systems that you can add under the counter to get hot water to that location faster. Needing to run water for a long time is very wasteful and loosing heat to uninsulated pipes is wasteful of energy.
Good Luck,
Dana
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