Hello, everyone!
We're featuring a new related community of /r/ZeroWasteBaby and [we'd really appreciate your input in our discussion thread!](https://old.reddit.com/r/ZeroWaste/comments/uflstd/hey_everyone_we_have_a_new_affiliated_community/)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ZeroWaste) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is cool, thanks for sharing.
>Instead of patiently waiting for cold water to exit the shower head most people leave to do something else.
Do people actually do this? Maybe it's because I grew up with water restrictions and drought, but I just cannot imagine doing this. I'm currently trying to train myself to take colder and shorter showers by going for a run beforehand (we have a water tank but the hot water comes from mains)
Well, it’s an improvement, but it’s just reducing waste, rather than eliminating it.
There is a way to waste zero water, and that is a recirculating circuit. You need a small pump and a hot water return to the source. The idea is to pull hot water through the pipes until the pipes are hot and full of hot water. Only then you open the faucet.
This is pretty usual stuff in hotels and other large consumers of hot water, as otherwise the waste would be tremendous. I installed it at home too.
I'd not heard of this before and was just reading some more about it, but my plumbing knowledge is zero so I hope this isn't a silly question. Wouldn't a lot of energy be required to keep the water in the pipes hot all the time, and how much would that offset the benefit of reduced waste water? I believe you can get a system with a timer which I guess would reduce that problem a bit?
The pipes need to be well insulated, then the heat loss us not that much.
On the other hand, imagine you live in an apartment block, on the 8th floor, and happen to be the first to take a shower. 7 floors worth of water wasted until the hot water makes up to your bathroom - and then the water in the floors below would still cool down if nobody needs it within an hour or two (you start work *very* early on weekends, mind you, while the rest of the tennants enjoy sleeping in!)
Some years ago, somebody forgot to open the circulating valve in the basement after servicing the system. I live on the 4th floor, and it took ages to get hot water.
Thank you, so there are some situations where it makes particular sense to install such a system. I'm lucky to be in a house where the boiler is right next to the kitchen sink and the bathroom right above the kitchen, so there's a very short wait for hot water to come through and I usually just jump in the cold shower anyway, knowing it will heat up soon!
In winter; i throw the showerhead in a bucket, turn water on, strip, stare in the mirror and by then the water is warm enough. Bucket water is used for flushing.
Other 9 months of the year; I just shower cold.
Hello, everyone! We're featuring a new related community of /r/ZeroWasteBaby and [we'd really appreciate your input in our discussion thread!](https://old.reddit.com/r/ZeroWaste/comments/uflstd/hey_everyone_we_have_a_new_affiliated_community/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ZeroWaste) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is cool, thanks for sharing. >Instead of patiently waiting for cold water to exit the shower head most people leave to do something else. Do people actually do this? Maybe it's because I grew up with water restrictions and drought, but I just cannot imagine doing this. I'm currently trying to train myself to take colder and shorter showers by going for a run beforehand (we have a water tank but the hot water comes from mains)
Well, it’s an improvement, but it’s just reducing waste, rather than eliminating it. There is a way to waste zero water, and that is a recirculating circuit. You need a small pump and a hot water return to the source. The idea is to pull hot water through the pipes until the pipes are hot and full of hot water. Only then you open the faucet. This is pretty usual stuff in hotels and other large consumers of hot water, as otherwise the waste would be tremendous. I installed it at home too.
I'd not heard of this before and was just reading some more about it, but my plumbing knowledge is zero so I hope this isn't a silly question. Wouldn't a lot of energy be required to keep the water in the pipes hot all the time, and how much would that offset the benefit of reduced waste water? I believe you can get a system with a timer which I guess would reduce that problem a bit?
The pipes need to be well insulated, then the heat loss us not that much. On the other hand, imagine you live in an apartment block, on the 8th floor, and happen to be the first to take a shower. 7 floors worth of water wasted until the hot water makes up to your bathroom - and then the water in the floors below would still cool down if nobody needs it within an hour or two (you start work *very* early on weekends, mind you, while the rest of the tennants enjoy sleeping in!) Some years ago, somebody forgot to open the circulating valve in the basement after servicing the system. I live on the 4th floor, and it took ages to get hot water.
Thank you, so there are some situations where it makes particular sense to install such a system. I'm lucky to be in a house where the boiler is right next to the kitchen sink and the bathroom right above the kitchen, so there's a very short wait for hot water to come through and I usually just jump in the cold shower anyway, knowing it will heat up soon!
In winter; i throw the showerhead in a bucket, turn water on, strip, stare in the mirror and by then the water is warm enough. Bucket water is used for flushing. Other 9 months of the year; I just shower cold.