What is a Hot Water Recirculating Pump?

A hot water recirculating pump is also known as a water heater circulation pump or a hot water recirculation system. These may provide solutions to common issues that people with hot water heaters experience.

What Does a Water Heater Circulation Pump Do?

hot water from recirculating pump

Do you have to stand at your taps and wait for your hot water to get there? Do you get frustrated because it takes so long to get hot water to certain parts of your house?

A water heater circulation pump is designed as a solution to these problems.

A hot water recirculation system works by returning unused hot water back to the water heater. If it gets left in your pipes, it will eventually turn cold and all of that cold water will have to run out of your faucets before the fresh hot water can get there.

When you pump this water back to the water heater itself, you won’t have to wait as long the next time you want hot water. This can also help you save some water, because you won’t have to waste hot water that gets cold sitting in your pipes.

How Do Hot Water Recirculation Systems Work?

There are a couple types of hot water recirculation systems.

The first one makes a loop from your water heater to your faucet and then back again. Unused hot water goes back to the water heater via the loop so fresh hot water can be pumped to you as soon as you need it.

Installing one of these systems means putting in new pipes. In some locations, homes are not designed to make installing one of these easy.

Another type of water heater circulation pump uses the existing pipe to send the hot water back to the water heater. While this is cheaper and easier to install, it means that both hot and cold water share the same pipe. This can cause your cold water to be lukewarm or take time to get as cold as you want it to be.

Water Heater Circulating Pump Troubleshooting

There’s not a lot that a homeowner can do to troubleshoot their water heater circulation pump. You can check to make sure that the pump is plugged in, then listen to make sure that it is working

If it’s broken, though, you will want to call a plumber. When your hot water circulating pump is not working, we can fix it for you fast. Rely on our team today, or whenever you need help getting hot water where you need it in your home.

If you’re reading to install a water circulation system or your hot water circulating pump is not working, reach out to your plumber in Boise from Dillon Plumbing today. We will get to you fast, figure out what you need for a water heater circulation pump or how we can fix yours, then get right to work. Before long, you’ll have hot water on demand and you won’t have to wait for it anymore.