Hi Steve,
I thought that too, but I read a bit further and it says the water pushed
out of the "cooled" hot water pipes will slightly warm the cold side, which
makes sense..But the system doesn't keep recirculating over and over..The
bypass valve under the sink shuts off when the hot water reaches it,
preventing the hot water from entering the cold line..I imagine as this
valve cools it will slowly open, allowing some water pass until the water is
once again hot..Now, if this system was to run constantly I could see it
would cost a bunch to run but with the timer having multiple settings you
could make it only run say, an hour in the morning for bathing, and a couple
or three hours in the evening during washing/cooking ect times..I even found
one system that instead of a timer, it has a push button that is mounted
discreetly in the cabinet work and you push to activate, and wireless remote
buttons are available to put in each bathroom..They say when you get ready
to shower or whatever, push the button and it activates the system on a need
be basis..I sorta like that idea..But hopefully someone here has tried one
of these so we can see the results...I wish I had a washbasin near the
laundry but I don't...The nearest faucet to the laundry is in the kitchen,
but still you would have to put wasted water into the septic...
Thanks!! John



"Steve Smith" wrote in message
...
John wrote in message
...
Hello group..
I have seen a few of these advertised, and was wondering if they really
work..They claim to save you a bunch of water which is wasted by waiting
for
the hot water to arrive to the faucet..My desired use is for the
laundry..The laundry room is quite a distance from the water heater, and
being a water efficient front load washer, it uses very little water and
on
a hot water wash, by the time the washer fills, the water is just
getting
hot which then makes the washer heat its own water making a very long
cycle..If these things really work, this would be a life saver as I
could
program the water circulator pump to come on when I do laundry
usually...Here is an example of this system:
http://www.rewci.com/whhohotwaci.html

This will end up costing you more money. The site even admits that
heated water is going to be used for toilet flushing and other such
activities. This will add up fast! Not only that, but you'll have your
nice hot water constantly running through uninsulated copper pipes. This
is
why your hot water gets cold in the pipes in the first place. Even when
you're not home you'll be losing money with this system.

True, you will pay less for water, but you'll pay more, A LOT more to
the gas or electric company.

Real hot-water re-circulators use a dedicated return line, and the
pipes
are all insulated very well during installation. I've actually seen such
a
system that used special manufactured insulated pipes.

The best bet for your washing machine: Run the hot tap in the
adjacent
laundry tub (if you have one) until it gets hot.

-- Steve