Green Plumbing Systems
Green plumbing layouts are designed for maximum water and energy conservation in hot water delivery systems.
A lot of water is wasted waiting for hot water to reach a sink or shower. In fact, the average family of four wastes about 11,461 gallons per year just waiting for hot water.
How long you have to wait for hot water depends on three factors:
- Distance From The Water Heater
Obviously, the further hot water has to travel, the longer it will take to get there.
To get hot water at the faucet from your water heater, the cooled water sitting in the hot water pipe must empty first. But even then you still won't have hot water right away, since the heat from the water gets absorbed into the colder pipe as it travels to the fixture.
With a new house, you can keep plumbing runs short by locating bathrooms and the kitchen near each other. Insulating the pipes will keep them from cooling off as fast, and the new hot water doesn't lose as much heat when it first enters the pipe. Installing am on-demand tankless water heater can deliver hot water almost instantly!
- Pipe Diameter
When you're waiting for hot water, all of the cool water sitting in the pipe has to flow out before hot water from the water heater reaches the tap.
The smaller the diameter, the faster hot water will reach the tap. That's because smaller-diameter pipe holds less water.
 50 feet of 1/2" diameter pipe holds 0.8 gallons
50 feet of /4" pipe holds 1.4 gallons
50 feet of 1" pipe holds 2.3 gallons.
- Flow Rate
The flow-rate of a faucet or showerhead affects the wait for hot water because it governs how quickly the cooled water sitting in the pipes will be emptied out.
If you have a water-conserving bathroom faucet that delivers only a 1/2-gallon per minute (gpm) and most of the piping in the house has 3/4" piping, a 50-foot run from the water heater requires almost three minutes to get hot water to your sink!
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Installing an on-demand hot water circulation system can bring hot water from the water heater to most remote fixtures in seconds, significantly reducing water wasted by waiting for hot water to arrive.
They are easy to install, do not require the installation of a tankless heater, generally do not require plumping modifications, reduce wear and tear on your water heater and return their investment quickly by lowering water and energy bills.
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