Hot Water Demand Systems Save Time Water and Money!

Hot water demand systems and what they can do for you!

A hot water demand system gets your hot water from your water heater to your sink fixtures or shower faster than just letting the faucet run full blast. As an added benefit you don't run any water down the drain while you wait. Faster hot water and water conservation turns your plumbing system green. 

The Chilipepper is the most powerful of the hot water demand systems on the market and it has the lowest suggested retail price of any hot water demand system.

Tired of waiting for your hot water?

If you don't like to stand and wait for the hot water to arrive at your fixture while water runs down the drain then you want a hot water demand system.

The Chilipepper hot water demand system pump will work great with every water heater. It works with standard storage water heaters, tankless water heaters, solar water heaters, electric, natural gas, propane, whatever.  As long as your cold water supply to your sink fixtures also connects to the water heater inlet, it will work for you. It doesn't matter how the heater heats the water.

The Chilipepper has such a powerful motor that it turns on all models of tankless water heaters. Rinnai, Takagi, Navien, Nortiz, Paloma, Bosch, Rheem, and all the rest. Not only can it turn on any tankless heater, but it is capable of handling pipe runs of over 400 feet.

Hot water recirculating pumps waste energy

Hot water recirculating or circulating pumps will increase your energy usage since they keep the hot water piping full of hot or warm water which forces the water heater to run more.  The increase in energy usage is also a fact when using one of the warm water circulating systems such as the Laing Autocirc1, RedyTemp, AstroExpress, Watts Premier, and the Grundfos Comfort System.

Even the thermo siphon type units such as the Nibco and Hot Water Lobster make your hot water heater work harder and increase your water heating bill.

Hot water demand systems do NOT waste energy!

Hot water demand systems only fill the pipe from the heater to the fixture with hot water, and you would need to do that to get hot water anyway. The pump only runs for a few seconds, and only when you want hot water. It doesn't use more energy because it doesn't circulate the water. The cost of running the pump is very low. Typically for a 4 person home it would require less than $2.00 per year in electricity costs.

For starting the Chilipepper a momentary contact push button is provided along with a six foot control cable.  As many buttons can be added as you need, and you can add as much wire as you want.  You can use both buttons and remote control modules at the same time if you wish.  Remotes are nice because you don't need to run wires. You can just place X10 remote switches at each of the additional fixtures that are covered by the Chilipepper.

The Chilipepper mounts under the sink furthest from your water heater. Hoses are used to connect the Chilipepper to your plumbing with a couple of T fittings which are included with every Chilipepper.  You will need an electrical outlet to plug it into. The pump comes with a 6 foot long 3 pronged power cord.

Pushing the start button causes the Chilipepper pump to begin pumping hot water out of the water heater and to the fixture quite rapidly. The hot water that has cooled off and is still in the piping gets sent back to the water heater through the cold water pipes.  When the pump detects a sudden increase in temperature it shuts off the pump before hot water gets into the cold water line. Now when you turn on the hot water faucet you have instant hot water.

The Chilipepper has sevral built in safety features. To meet International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) guidelines for hot water demand systems a demand system must lock out once the water temperature reaches 96 degrees.  The pump must not run until the temperature drops back down to below 96 degrees. The Chilipepper complies.

If the Chilipepper does not detect the arrival of hot water within 3 minutes it shuts off anyway.  One reason for this is if there is a problem with the water heater and there is no hot water to shut off the Chilipepper then it won’t run forever. 

Tankless water heater considerations.

Most hot water delivery systems will not work with most tankless water heaters.  Most tankless water heaters require from ½ gallon per minute to ¾ gallons per minute to turn the unit on and keep it on. The warm water circulating systems like the Grundfos, Laing Autocirc, and Astro Express don’t have enough flow to turn on the tankless heater. This is also true of all thermo siphon systems like the Hot Water Lobster and the Nibco device.

Tankless water heaters and traditional hot water circulating systems are not generally compatible.  This applies to the warm water circulating systems like the Grunfos, Laing, and Astro Express and others. The two biggest problems are:

1. Most circulating systems don't produce enough flow to turn on a tankless water heater. Most tankless heaters require at least 1/2 gallon per minute to turn on. 

2. Most tankless water heaters were not designed to be turned on and off frequently as a circ system would cause the tankless heater to do.

Not all hot water demand systems produce enough flow either. The Metlund S-50T is not recommended for tankless hot water for that reason, and the Metlund S-70T is only recommended for systems with short piping runs.  The Chilipepper however produces about 3 gallons per minute of flow and can turn on any tankless water heater made. 

Dedicated hot water return lines

If your home already has a standard hot water circulating system with a dedicated hot water return line then you can still convert it to a hot water demand system. You can just ignore the dedicated line and install the demand system pump under the furthest sink from the water heater, or you can locate it in place of the old circulating pump and utilize the dedicated return line. In either case you will see a significant reduction in your water heating bills.

Determine Your Plumbing Layout

Determining where the best location for your demand system is sometimes difficult, but there is a easy way to find out the best location for your demand system pump.

When the piping is cold, like the first thing in the morning, turn on the hot water faucet at the fixture you think is the furthest from the heater.  Let it run until the hot water arrives at the faucet. Now go to the fixture that is the next furthest from the heater and turn on the hot water faucet. Time how long it takes to get hot water.

If it shares a common hot water feed pipe then it will get hot water faster than usual.  You can get a one gallon milk jug and measure how much water gets run down the drain while waiting for hot water.

By repeating the process at different fixtures in your home, after letting the pipes cool between tests, you can figure out where is the best location for the pump and whether you need more than one pump for your home.

Go green with your hot water system and start saving time, water, energy, and money with a Chilipepper today!