234 Domestic Water Heating Design Manual, Second Edition

Water

be circulated. However, this recommendation is subjective, and,

unfortunately, some engineers and contractors use the 100-ft
(30.48-m) criterion as the maximum length for all uncirculated,
uninsulated, dead-end hot water branches to fixtures in order to
cut the cost of hot water distribution piping. These long,
uninsulated, dead-end branches to fixtures create considerable
problems, such as a lack of hot water at fixtures, inadequately
sized water heater assemblies, and thermal temperature escala-
tion in showers.
The 100-ft (30.48-m) length criterion was developed in 1973
after the Middle East oil embargo, when energy costs were the
paramount concern and water conservation was given little con-
sideration. Since the circulation of hot water causes a loss of energy
due to radiation and convection in the circulated system and such
energy losses have to be continually replaced by water heaters,
the engineering community compromised between energy loss and
construction costs and developed the 100-ft (30.48-m) maximum
length criterion.

LENGTH AND TIME CRITERIA

Recently, due to concern about not only energy conservation but
also the extreme water shortages in parts of the country, the 100-
ft (30.48-m) length criteria has changed. Water wastage caused by
the long delay in obtaining hot water at fixtures has become as
critical an issue as the energy losses caused by hot water tem-
perature maintenance systems. To reduce the wasting of cooled
hot water significantly, the engineering community has reevalu-
ated the permissible distances for uncirculated, dead-end branches
to periodically used plumbing fixtures. The new allowable distances
for uncirculated, dead-end branches represent a trade-off between
the energy utilized by the hot water maintenance system and the
cost of the insulation, on the one hand, and the cost of energy to
heat the excess cold water makeup, the cost of wasted potable
water, and extra sewer surcharges, on the other hand. Further-
more, engineers should be aware that various codes now limit the
length between the hot water maintenance system and plumbing
fixtures. They also should be aware of the potential for liability if
an owner questions the adequacy of their hot water system de-
sign.
What are reasonable delays in obtaining hot water at a fix-
ture? For anything beside very infrequently used fixtures (such as
those in industrial facilities or certain fixtures in office bu
buildings),
a delay of 0 to 10 sec is normally considered acceptable ffor most
Recirculating Domestic Hot Water Systems
Water 235

residential occupancies and public fixtures in office buildings. A

delay of 11 to 30 sec is marginal but possibly acceptable, and a
time delay longer than 31 sec is normally considered unaccept-
able and a significant waste of water and energy. Therefore, when
designing hot water systems, it is prudent for the designer to
provide some means of getting hot water to the fixtures within
these acceptable time limits. Normally this means that there
should be a maximum distance of approximately 25 ft (7.6 m)
between the hot water maintenance system and each of the plumb-
ing fixtures requiring hot water, the distance depending on the
water flow rate of the plumbing fixture at the end of the line and
the size of the line. (See Tables 14.1, 14.2, and 14.3.) The plumb-
ing designer may want to stay under this length limitation because
the actual installation in the field may differ slightly from the
engineer's design, and additional delays may be caused by either
the routing of the pipe or other problems. Furthermore, with the
low fixture discharge rates now mandated by national and local
laws, it takes considerably longer to obtain hot water from non-
temperature maintained hot water lines than it did in the past,
when fixtures had greater flow rates. For example, a public lava-
tory with a 0.50 or 0.25 gpm (0.03 or 0.02 L/sec) maximum
discharge rate would take an excessive amount of time to obtain
hot water from 100 ft (30.48 m) of uncirculated, uninsulated hot
water piping. (See Table 14.3.) This table gives conservative ap-
proximations of the amount of time it takes to obtain hot water
at a fixture. The times are based on the size of the line, the fix-
ture flow rate, and the times required to replace the cooled off
hot water, to heat the pipe, and to offset the convection energy
lost by the insulated hot water line.

Table 14.1 Water Contents and Weight of Tube or

Piping per Linear Foot
Copper Copper Steel Pipe CPVC Pipe
Nominal Pipe Pipe Schedule Schedule
Diameter Type L Type M 40 40
Water Wgt. Water Wgt. Water Wgt. Water Wgt.
(in.)a (gal/ft) (lb/ft) (gal/ft) (lb/ft) (gal/ft) (lb/ft) (gal/ft) (lb/ft)
½ 0.012 0.285 0.013 0.204 0.016 0.860 0.016 0.210
¾ 0.025 0.445 0.027 0.328 0.028 1.140 0.028 0.290
1 0.043 0.655 0.045 0.465 0.045 1.680 0.045 0.420
1¼ 0.065 0.884 0.068 0.682 0.077 2.280 0.078 0.590
1½ 0.093 1.14 0.100 0.940 0.106 2.720 0.106 0.710
aPipe sizes are indicated for mild steel pipe sizing.