Reduce Water Use at Home

Pam Caviness wants to reduce the amount of water she's using in Monrovia, CA. Here's her situation:

"During the winter my hot water comes out freezing cold. In the summer my cold water is scalding hot.

I have a gas water heater in the garage and the copper pipes run through the attic to the two bathrooms and kitchen.

The heater is only about ten years old. It takes about 3-4 minutes of running it to get it to the right temp. to use.

Depending on time of year. I have wrapped the copper pipes in insulation and that doesn't seem to have helped it much.

Do you have any suggestions as we are in a major water drought crisis down here in CA."

I've got a simple solution for Pam!

Pam, I can fix your hot water problem very easily with a recirculating pump that works on a timer.

CLICK THIS IMAGE to buy this pump NOW!

You need the Grundfos Comfort Series recirculating pump that will send hot water to your furthest bathroom just before you need it.

You can set the pump to go on and off at different times of day to suit your living habits. The cold water in the pipes is sent back to the water heater to get hot so there's ZERO waste of water. This is important for you and all CA homeowners as you are indeed in a serious drought.

Your cold water situation in the summer is harder to fix, but it's doable.

For years, I solved broken under slab water leaks by convincing customers to install the cold water lines in a small soffit that travels down a hallway to get to far away bathrooms.

This keeps the water lines in the conditioned space of your home. 

If you're running AC in the summer and your interior temperature of the house is 78 F, then that's what the cold water will be that's sitting in the lines.

As cooler water comes up from the in-ground mains, then the water will cool off a little more. 

This popular column was featured in the April 10, 2015 AsktheBuilder Weekend Warrior.