On Thu, 08 Dec 2005 14:27:49 GMT, L. M. Rappaport
wrote:

On Thu, 08 Dec 2005 08:30:16 -0500, GaryM
wrote (with possible editing):

wrote in
oups.com:

The originally hot water sits in two stories of pipe and cools.
You have to move that much out of the pipes.
You could look at a recirculating system.
You could look at an in-line flow actuated heater.
Both are expensive to install and give better comfort and
performance. TB

Does the furnace need to run more to with a recirculating pump?

Thanks.

Not in this case. The OP said he had a water heater. THAT will run
more with recirculation, but it will cure his problem and slightly
reduce boiler/furnace usage.

IN the winter. In the summer it will slightly increase AC usage, if
he uses the AC.

Mike, how long does the hot water take to get to your basement sink,
or the bathroom on the first floor immediately above hot water
heater. Or the kitchen. It's going to take longer the farther it
has to go. I insulated the ho****er pipes in the basement, but for a
guy who lives alone, and uses the water only every hour or two, it has
no effect.

Does water flow out of the faucet on t he third floor at a normal
pace? But doesn't at other hot water faucets. Then it's the pipes
not the HWH. But I'm sure the answer to this question was no.

I doubt very much there is anything wrong with your system. Flushing
out a bit of water from the HWH is recommended every so many years
for many HWH's but not to solve your problem. Which really is no
problem and is probably normal.

(Get a little plastic man in a plastic boat, put him in tthe hot water
heater and time how long it t akes for him to come out the 2nd floor
faucet. Or use a radioactive isotope. Take similar measurements at
other faucets and see if the time is proportional to distance. Or
just measure the time it takes to get hot.)

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.