About speedball1 Expertise About me: My Plumbing Expertise: I retired from plumbing after a lifetime in the trade. all phases from service and upkeep to construction, both residential and commercial. I am qualified to do anything in plumbing from fixing a leaky faucet to drafting a set of plans for a commercial shopping center and supervising the construction. My last five years were spent as a trouble shooter for a large plumbing company. I took on all my companys complaints. I have been a expert on the plumbing page at Askme.com. In a field of 200 experts my rating was number one. You may also find me at Answerway.com and AskMe Help Desk.com. This is fun for me and if I can help anybody out that`s iceing on the cake. Degrees & Certifications: As for degrees, I don`t have any. Just a Journeymans ticket, but hey! How about fifty years experience?
Experience Life Experience? Hmmmmmmm! Ran away at 15 and joined a carnival, Navy at 17 Merchant marine at 19 I've had a hellava life.
Question I'm really tired of wating for the hot water to heat up in the morning. I've got timers and a JCI staging thermal controller just sitting here, and I can sweat copper. So I want to install a low-volume circulating pump on a timer with a thermostat to run water from just under the bathroom sink, which is the most distant point from the water heater, to a tee a few feet in front of the water heater, on the cold water line going into it. Is that allowed by code in most places? or should I tee into the heater drain cock at the bottom instead? My biggest problem is knowing what kind of pump to get, what gpm rating to look for,and where to find one. Do I have to have a check valve in place as well? I would probably use half inch or smaller copper; the rest of the plumbing is 3/4".
Answer Good morning Tom, You will cut a 1/2" tee ahead of the shutoff valve into the cold water line of your heater and attach a 1/2" recirculating pump off it. Next run a 1/2" line to the farthest fixture in the system and tee that into the hot water side. No check valve is needed. The flow will run from the fixture back to the cold water inlet of the heater. Let me help you out a bit on your selection. Click on http://www.lainginc.com/howhot.htm to view a typical hook up and check out a few pumps. For more, simply type in water heater recirculating pumps on your search bar and take your pick. More questions? I'm as close as a click. Good luck and thank you for rating my reply. Tom
