"kevin" wrote in message
ups.com...
Just curious: I know you can get point-of-use water heaters (basically
just conventional water heaters with a very tiny tank, 3 gallons or
less, usually electric), on-demand tankless water heaters for the whole
house, and even instant hot water dispensers.

Is there any low-output reasonably low cost point-of-use water
re-heaters that migth solve the OPs problem? Something that could raise
the temp a few degrees for just a single faucet. Since it would only
run until the hotter water from the basement arrived, even electric
would probably cost little to run.

Not that I'd pay good money to solve what I see as a minor annoyance,
but the OP may want think otherwise.

-Kevin


I considered putting a 15gal electric HW heater near the bathroom in series
with the output of a 30gal gas heater in the garage. initially the water
used would be heated by the local electric heater and cold standing water in
the pipes would be mixed within and reheated. Eventually hot from the main
tank would be filling the smaller tank and it would power down.

I didn't like the space this system would take (plus it will still loose
heat) so I will eventually install an on demand recirculation pump and
return line. Instead of operating on a timer, I would manually prime the
hot pipe with a buttom just before I use the water. I think this is a good
compromise between saving water and power. No sense in heating my
crawlspace all day while I am at work. Alternatively, I could wire the pump
power to the bathroom light fixture for passive, manual operation. You
don't need much for a return line, 3/8" copper tube or PEX would be
acceptable and would reduce the number of soldered fittings.