delay in hot water reaching taps & shower pump installat All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[pmacd]

Hi

Background… am in the process of doing loft conversion on a bungalow, and am installing 2 new showers and a bath.

Water tank and hot water cylinder are in the loft, and due to lack of height between water tank and showerhead, I am installing a salamander pump for negative head problem, and am upgrading to a 50 gallon water tank.

There has always been a very noticeable delay with hot water from the cylinder reaching the taps downstairs, (I think due to length of pipe run, as all main feed hot water pipes from the cylinder are 22mm), and so I was advised to try running a return pipe from the final hot water tap back to the cylinder to create a continuous run of water.

Question: Now I am having to install a pump does this make this idea redundant, if so I can dismantle before floorboards go down, or is there still some merit in this idea.

Also I think I am fairly ok with pump location & installation but any do’s or don’ts would be appreciated.

thanks

[Perry525]

All hospitals, office blocks, factories etc; with long pipe runs use a bronze circulator to continually push the hot water round to enable anyone using a tap anywhere to get instant hot water. These pumps are very expensive. And as the pipework is always hot, they loose a lot of heat, not a good idea when you are facing rising prices.
Probably, in this situation you should do a cost analysis.
A 6 minute shower using gas at the present time costs about 7.5p.
Look at the cost of your proposal, consider how often the set up will be used.
Consider an electric water heater, it may work out cheaper.