I have a hot water circ system, when I use just cold water outside of home it feels hot, what is the problem

Question

Even inside of the home the water feels very warm when the cold water faucets are opened and running for a while. On the outside of the home the water feels very warm even after running it for a long time. Is this how the system works or do I have a problem. I think I am wasting so much energy and wondering if there is remedy for this and who is the best person to call for repair. Thank you, I appreciate your time and assistance.

Answer 1

There should be check valve, just before the recirc enters the water heater.  They don't last forever, and it's the most likely culprit.

Answer 2

it sounds like your main water supply line is routed thru ur boiler  need to call plummer to make this right

Answer 3

I suspect that the hot water is feeging back some how. May be you need a backfloe regulator some to over come this

Answer 4

Some systems are plumbed so they can draw water back from the heated water supply . A check valve or backflow preventer should help at the point where the cold water enters the hot water system.  What it is doing is siphioning some heated water back into the water system .

Try this experiment . take 2 cups,bowels or jars. one with colored water and the other with clear water put a hose into both and leave overnight , the clear water will get colored.

Answer 5

Isn't it summer where you are? If you are on a community water system, many storage tanks are mounted up on towers to add more pressure to the system, therefore the sun heats the "cold" water very much. Even water in lakes heats the same. (There can be as much as a 35 degree difference between summer and winter) There is most likely nothing wrong with your home plumbing. I am sure as winter comes along so will  cold water to your cold water lines.

**JD

Answer 6

here's a couple scenarios not mentioned:

1) the recirc line is too close to the cold or encased too close in the same area.  the cold water is being heated by "conduction".

2) you may have a cross connection occurring someplace.  perhaps at a Moen faucet or the washing machine valve or???

or, as stated above, it's summertime and it may be normal for this time of year.  wait 'till winter to see if it changes.

Answer 7

If you have single handle faucets in your shower or sinks, they can and will allow the hot water to back feed into the cold water pipes. I worked on a condo that shared water and we found that a faucet in the vacant unit was at fault.

Best thing to do is to map out your water flow. It will come in from your supply into the house, usually from the meter or well. It should be cold at this point, if it is not then the problem is ( very unlikely) your water supply.

The water will branch off with a supply going into your water heater.

The way most recirculating units work is they measure the water temp on the hot side and back feed the water into the cold when it falls below the set temperature.

So your recirculating unit could be either set too high or not closing off the return and constantly flooding the cold side with hot water causing this problem.

If you can, disconnect the power from the recirculator and see if the water does not cool off after a bit.

If it is still hot, you will need to shut off the hot side of the faucets one at a time and see if that stops the problem.

As a final recourse, it is possiable that somehow the water pipes are crossed somewhere. to check this turn off the water supply going into the water heater and check all the faucets. If any of them have water still on the hotside then they are not plumbed correctly. If any of the cold side faucets do not still have water then they are at fault. If you have a problem on both sides of the same faucet then the supply lines are just backwards

Luck