Convenience and conservation are here now. You know what it's like to run the tap and wait for the shower to heat up before stepping in. Waiting for hot water is inconvenient and it wastes time and money. With a hot water recirculation system, the comfort of hot water in an instant and the elimination of water waste are a turn of the knob away.
Hot water recirculation means a continuous flow of hot water in the hot water supply line of your home. Without a “recirc” system, unused hot water in the line cools and must be evacuated before hot water from your hot water heater can reach the desired faucet. As a result, gallons of water are wasted – and so is your time.
During construction of a new home, a dedicated return line is installed between the end of the hot water supply line and the water heater. A circulator pump is installed at the point where the return line connects to the hot water tank. The circulator pushes heated water from the tank through the supply line and back through the return line.
This system uses the cold water supply line as the “return-line” to the water heater. A circulator pump is used to create a pressure differential that allows the cold and cool water in the hot water supply line to “by-pass (at low volume) into the cold supply line through a patented thermostatically controlled valve that is mounted under the sink furthest from the water heater."