Mystified by a Solar Heating System I Need to Remove

[bcroe]

Pools have circulators.

[J.P.M.]

Pools have circulators.

And those circulators pump relatively cold water around.

My point was the thermal energy waste associated with a DHW hot water circulating system. The cost of the power to pump the water around amounts to less than peanuts compared to the thermal energy wasted by such systems, particularly during A/C season, and even when all hot water lines are very well and carefully insulated and circulating systems are on timers. They are, IMO, a waste of money made possible by user ignorance as to how much the energy they waste will cost. If people knew how much they cost in terms of energy costs not to mention added equipment costs, I bet there would be a lot fewer of them, and people who have them would stop ignorantly signing their praises.

[azdave]

What does having a pool got to do with a DHW recirculating system ?

I took it to mean that pools are wasteful on a whole new level above a domestic hot water circulation system. I can't disagree with that since I have plenty of experience with both.

[mike s.]

Not knowing it was for hot water recirculation (really, there's no way to know for sure without opening up the wall), I had long ago installed another hot water recirculation pump on top of the propane heater. Though it has a sophisticated timer on it, I just wired it up to a spring loaded wall switch (like for a Jacuzzi pump) in the house. Crank it to 5 minutes of run before a shower. Saves a lot of water, important in socal. So you don't run a lot of cold water into the drain waiting for warm water.

Instead of opening up the wall behind the propane water heater, I plan to just "splice" together the two pipes coming from the solar tank, going into the house. Anyone see anything wrong with this approach?

[J.P.M.]

Not knowing it was for hot water recirculation (really, there's no way to know for sure without opening up the wall), I had long ago installed another hot water recirculation pump on top of the propane heater. Though it has a sophisticated timer on it, I just wired it up to a spring loaded wall switch (like for a Jacuzzi pump) in the house. Crank it to 5 minutes of run before a shower. Saves a lot of water, important in socal. So you don't run a lot of cold water into the drain waiting for warm water.

Instead of opening up the wall behind the propane water heater, I plan to just "splice" together the two pipes coming from the solar tank, going into the house. Anyone see anything wrong with this approach?

The water saved by the luxury of instant hot water amounts to about 2.7 gal. per 100 ft. of 3/4" pipe, or about 1.3 gal./100 ft. of 1/2 " pipe. Savings - yes, but so would cutting the shower time by about a minute or less for the same water savings. Low flow shower heads will outdo any circulator savings in a hot second. No circulator also saves the cost of equipment with the added bonus of less possible hassle about switches. The water saving feature of hot water recirculators is mostly a marketing gimmick used by peddlers of such energy hogs. Bottom lines: Hot water recirculators are a waste of money, energy resources and materials, and add complexity to a plumbing system. Any advantages they may offer in terms of saving water can be more than compensated for by other easily available means for little or no cost and with less complication and increased reliability. The same savings in water for a shower can be achieved by one less toilet flush, which is where most of the positive hype about hot water recirculators belongs.

[azdave]

Instead of opening up the wall behind the propane water heater, I plan to just "splice" together the two pipes coming from the solar tank, going into the house. Anyone see anything wrong with this approach?

Not if it closes the loop and doesn't cut off water to something you don't yet know about.