It is Advantageous to Have a Hot Water Circulating Pump Timer?

Yes!

Installer a timer to only operate during the times when you need the circulating pump to work is one of the best things you can do for the health of your copper water pipes.

Circulating Systems Wear Out Your Piping and Your Water Heater Faster

Circulating pumps (commonly and incorrectly referred to as recirculating pumps) move water throughout the hot water system of the home. This water is moving 24 hours a day in under most circumstances yet, the water is not being used 24 hours a day.

Wearing Out the Piping

This constant movement means a lot of water is moving through the piping. Lets do the math.
Hot Water Usages:      10 minute Shower (2.50 gallons a minutes…1/2 Hot-1/2 Cold)
5 minutes Lav Sink (1.5 gallons a minute…1/2 Hot-1/2 Cold)
Kitchen Sink(1.75 gallons a minute…10 minutes a day)

In our mock household with 2 people in it we are using 25 gallons of hot water in the shower, 7.5 gallons of hot water in the lavatory sink and 17.5 gallons in the kitchen sink. Our mock house has 50 gallons of hot water a day moving through its non-circulated hot water lines.

Now We Add A Circulation System to the Hot Side

This involves installing a single return line all the way from the last fixture terminating at the water heater. We install a standard UPS-15-35 SS water pump. It has a maximum flow rate of 21.6 gallons a minute. With a rise in the copper (head foot) and the restrictions in the bends and length of piping we reduce the flow rate to about 7 gallons a minute. This house is now moving 1008 gallons of hot water throughout the home each day. That is a 2,000% increase in usage. See the problem?

We Install a Timer to Combat This Excessive Water Use

The timer is set between 6am and 9am and between 6pm and 10pm. Now the pump is operating 4 hours a day for usage of 180 gallons a day. This is a much more acceptable amount of movement and is much easier on your home’s copper piping.

Proximity Sensors Work Well

We can set up proximity sensors in each room where you will use hot water. The sensor turns on the pump and keeps it going for about 5-10 minutes. This way you have hot water at every fixture when you need it and the pump doesn’t operate when there is no demand. This involves replacing light switches, or adding on to them, and pulling those wires back to a central switch.