Getting Hot Water Faster From Tankless Water Heater

Tired of waiting for hot water? Do wait minutes before hot water reaches that distant fixture? And want to know how to get hot water faster from your tankless water heater? Just keep reading.

The most popular and effective solution to get hot water faster from your tankless water heater is to either install a recirculating pump system or a small point-of-use water heater at the affected fixture. 

Nobody likes touching that cold water in the freezing season. If we go by nationwide statistics, it takes 68 seconds on average for hot water to arrive after opening the tap. That also means guilt of wasting gallons of cold water down the drain. So if we can just somehow get hot faster then not just we can enjoy convenience but also the wasted water can be prevented. 

In this today’s guide, we are going to walk the talk on how to get around this problem in more detail but first, 

How do tankless water heaters work and why is there a delay in hot water delivery?

A tankless water heater is a water heater without a tank. It has a pretty simple work mechanism. There is a powerful heat exchanger at the core of the appliances. When a hot water tap is opened, the water flows through this heat exchanger, it instantly gets heated, and reaches your outlet as the hot water. Due to its instant heating ability, the tankless water heater is also sometimes called an instant water heater or on-demand water heater.

Now the next question is “why there is a delay?”. Right. So between the hot water tap and tankless water heater, there is a certain distance that water has to travel through the pipe before reaching your tap. So in that sense, the longer the distance, the larger the delay. That makes sense, right? 

Remember that cold water that you initially get on opening the tap? That cold water is the old hot water that got cold laying there and now got pushed out by the fresh hot water.

So now hopefully since you have got a better understanding of how tankless water heater works and why there is a delay. Let’s talk about the two popular and very much effective solutions to get hold of this problem.

[Troubleshooting: Is your tankless water heater beeping? Here are the possible reasons and fixes.]

Getting hot water faster from a tankless water heater

1. Installing a small point-of-use water heater

It doesn’t matter whether it’s your kitchen sink, shower, or the most distant fixture in your home. Having to wait for hot water can get frustrating over time. In this situation, a small point-of-use water heater installed near the affected fixture and in line with your main water heater can save you peace of mind. 

It doesn’t matter whether you install a tank or tankless model, the role of point of use or POU is to provide you with literally instant hot water. POU units are cheap, costing somewhere 150$ on average, small and compact that can fit inside your bathroom vanity or kitchen sink cabinet and most homeowners can install it themself. 

So if you have a single affected fixture where hot water waiting time is unbearable then this option is perfect for you. 

But what if you have multiple fixtures affected by hot water delay?

If you are looking to purchase a water heater then don’t forget to go through the guide on water heater brands with the best warranty.

2. Get a recirculating pump system in place

A recirculating pump is a small, low-impact pump installed usually on the top of the tankless water heater. These are small pumps with upto 25 watts of power. And what role it plays is to create a loop between your cold water line and hot water line. 

The function of the recirculating pump is not that sophisticated. It has a thermostatic sensor. When it detects the temperature of water in the pipe has dropped below a certain set parameter then it quickly replaces that water with hot water. There’s always hot water in the pipe. So whenever you open the tap you always get hot water from the very first drop. 

The downside to this system is that you will have a tiny increase in electricity bills. But high-tech models are available that come with wireless remotes and timers which helps with electricity saving.

Getting hot water faster from point of use water heater

So not even your point of use a water heater delivering hot water quickly? Or the affected fixture is close to the water heater but there’s still a delay? 

In this case, the issue seems to be servicing. There’s most likely limescale build-up inside the appliance which is known to reduce water heating speed. To tackle such a case you need to descale the water heater with the help of the guide here or call a plumber. 

How to get hot water faster to shower or at the kitchen sink? 

The best solution to this problem is to install a POU tankless water heater that can quickly deliver hot water from the very first drop. You can also try one of these top single-fixture electric tankless water heaters that are easy to install.

Your call! 

So that’s a wrap! I hope this brief how-to guide could help you out with getting hot water faster from that tankless water heater and in the process save you frustration and gallons of water as well. What’s next? A tankless water heater can sometimes get an issue stopping after a few minutes automatically. This guide can help you fix that.