water heater question

@renovationnightmare, he’s talking about my company. I know what you’ve got going on there. Call my office if you’d like and we’ll get you sorted out quick. (212/718) 980-0909

Master Plvmber

in Heating and Cooling 4 years and 2 months ago

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Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "200736"

Yes it is weird, but no one seems to think it’s a problem. It takes about 30 seconds for hot water to reach the main shower both with and without the pump. 30 seconds was deemed pretty fast — good insulation! — so we just live without a pump.

hkapstein | 4 years and 2 months ago

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30 seconds is not bad, the question is more how did they plumb everything, and why doesn’t the circulator work as intended. I’d be curious to see the design if you have it handy. Did you have detailed engineering drawings of this plumbing done?

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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I’ve attached the plumbing drawings. [Hwh plumbing](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:SN6j:hwhplumbing.png.jpg)

hkapstein | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Ok I’m looking at this, but do you seriously have an elevator in your brownstone?

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Thank you. We do. My husband wouldn’t be able to live here without it.

Master Plvmber | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Hot water recirculation lines don’t always benefit from a pump. On a simple system with little restriction, the changing temperature of the water is enough to induce flow upward from the heat source and create constant, albeit slow, circulation. Usually, a flow rate of .25 to .5 gallons per minute is enough to satisfy recirculation needs. For perspective, an open bathroom faucet passes about 1.5 GPM.

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Very good to know. Thank you!

So I suppose if we have an unnecessary recirculating pump, it’s not that surprising we have an unnecessary expansion tank.

hkapstein | 4 years and 2 months ago

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That’s true, but wouldn’t they normally put a check in the pump or a dip to stop the thermosiphon? I think the 008 has an integrated check valve. Looking at the mechanical drawing, I don’t really see any detail for the hot water piping, so perhaps it was improvised by the plumber.

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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My guess is that’s the case.

Unless our installer suddenly materializes to address the dripping, it sounds very much like I need to get someone in here. If you were in my shoes, what would you ask the plumber to do or look at?

Master Plvmber | 4 years and 2 months ago

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@urbandad
All the Taco cartridge pumps can be purchased with or without internal flow checks.
Using a recirculation system negates the functionality of a thermal siphon loop. Recirc promotes flow.

hkapstein | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Yes, I think someone who knows about how plumbing is supposed to work needs to do a site visit. I’ve heard of this place, I think it’s called gateway plumbing. Do you think they’d want to help?

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Thank you for the recommendation. I guess I just tell them about the dripping drip tube and hope it doesn’t end up being some giant investigative exercise that costs $1000s.