hot water circuit

[VSR]

dear all,

in my new home, hot water taps appear to come off a circuit through which hot water from the storage cylinder is continuously circulated. this has the advantage that even with the cylinder in the basement, a tap in the second floor gives hot water without a lot of cold water first. however, i think that constant circulation results in loss of a lot of heat from the constantly circulating water since none of the pipes are lagged. would it be OK to switch the pump off?
many thanks
VSR

 

[Agile]

You could but then you will waste the power used to heat the water which you leave in the pipes after turning a hot tap off. As well as the wasted water running the tap before the water runs hot!

The best thing you can do is to put the pump on a timer to only run it at the times you are likely to be using hot water like mornings and evenings.

Tony

 

[twgas]

you could put a pipe stat on the secondary return so that when its hot the stat switches off the pump.

 

[Agile]

Thats no good Mick!

She is concerned about the heat loss from the unlagged secondary circulation pipes!

Tony

 

[waterworks]

With the cylinder in the basement your secondary return should work without a pump, try turning it off and see.

I would advise you to insulate your pipework.