Water Recirculation Pump?

[eblend]

Hi guys,

I replied to my own thread before but figure I will make a new one as it will probably attract more attention to the question from a plumber.

I am looking at ways to prevent my pipes from freezing in one bathroom, and randomly looking online came up with some advertisement saying that water recirculation system can be used to prevent pipes from freezing. Aside from the other obvious benefits of instant hot water throughout the house, will this work in my situation to prevent my pipes from freezing in main floor bathroom?

My bathroom with the frozen pipes issue is right above the utilities room. The water re circulation systems state that the sensor valve has to be installed at the furthest point in the house, which makes sense to get hot water in all the pipes all the way up there, but will it to me any good with the frozen pipe situation in the bathroom closest to the hot water tank? I can see if i installed a sensor valve at that location that it would push the water through that point and not freeze, but then I won't get the benefit of instant hot water upstairs? Ideally installing this pump will give me instant hot water upstairs and solve my freezing problem, but I'm not sure if it will and seeking some advice.

Thanks

[frozenrice]

I’m not a plumber but my first instinct would be to find out why your waterlines to that bathroom are freezing in the first place. It sounds like there is insufficient insulation in around that area to cause them to freeze. if you can find the source of heat loss and fix it you should solve the problem with freezing water lines.

[phreezee]

Yeah, what he said ^^^. The recirc pump is meant to be run on a timer at high use times and not 24/7 and it would add a bit to your electricity bill.

Hypothetically if you did run it 24/7, it would solve your frozen pipe situation and give you faster hot water upstairs if it's all on 1 loop.

Note I'm not a plumber, but I did install my own.

[TurboMedic]

I've been trying to find a recirc pump setup locally without much luck. You can order it on Home Depot on line though. Wolseley wanted almost $600 for the setup. Instant hot water is where its at for sure, but I'd echo why the heck do you have pipes somewhere they will freeze in your house??

[eblend]

Thanks for the feedback. My original thread with the water freezing details is here: https://forums.beyond.ca/threads/406124-Spray-foam-small-job?p=4703040#post4703040

The water freezing seems pretty light, as a hair dries will break up the plug in a few minutes when I can aim it into that direction about 1 meter away. It takes a few hours for it to freeze even at this temperature we have right now, so if I run a recirc pump one an hour or so, it should be enough to keep it from freezing, and speed up hot water deliver, so get two birds with one stone sort of situation. Still undecided. Other option is heat wrap wire on the section I have access to, and maybe that will be enough to keep it warm enough in that section and not freeze, but it doesn't seem to be a good long term practical solution.