I wanted to share with you a little gadget available on Amazon through Joan's site. It is a Watts 500800 hot water recirculation pump for $172.49 pp.
We have lived here 3 1/2 years and it takes 40 seconds for the hot water in our bathrooms. (I thought it was 4 minutes until I timed it) I was really frustrated. Brush my teeth with hot water, run water in the washer etc. to use instead of running it down the drain.
Son in law installed this gadget on the water heater in an hour (they say 20 min.) and it works like a charm. I now have hot water in all faucets in 10 seconds without running a bunch of water down the drain. Somehow it recirculates the hot water all the time making it available sooner. Uses electricity of a 25 watt bulb and has a timer, which he set to come on at 6 a.m. and go off at 9:p.m. If you have to wait for hot water I highly recommend this and it should lower your water bill.
Side note on hot water - you should never drink, cook or brush your teeth in hot tap water. No matter the age of your house (although it it worse in older homes). pipes and fixtures contain lead and hot water releases the lead. Boil your water for noodles, tea, etc from cold tap water.
The gadget to move the hot water to the faucets faster sounds fantastic though and I am going to look into that, it takes forever to get hot water upstairs in my house for the shower!
i read about it somewhere when the metals theory is out about being a cause of AD. if you have old metal pipes think about getting PVC installed. its true about the lead - divvi
only if you have it in old almagama tooth fillings, CE (cracked egg:)...get those out if you have them and replace with the newer one. there will be those who are skeptical bout the metals theory, i for one, beleive without a doubt it is true, on the brain autopsies they do on AD to verify if it is AD there is always a copious amount of heavy metals involved in the findings. just my input though.. divvi
You are certainly safer with PVC but most water line hook ups, valves and faucets contain metals. Even when they are certified leadfree, they can contain certain percentage of lead in the metals.
The hot water gadget mentioned above uses your current hot water lines. The device contains a 25W motor to keep the hot water circulating through your hot water lines in hour house (we have our timer set so it does so continously from 6 a.m. to 9p.p...When you turn on your hot water anywhere in your house it only takes 10 seconds to reach the hot water main line. Son in law says in addition to mounting the device on your hot water heater you mount something on your hot water outlet that is the fartherest away from the water heater. You can find the device on Amazon and read the reviews. I got mine at Home Depot but it is $199. there.