2024 Updated Watts Heat H2O Hot Water Recirculation System

I was really impressed with the Watts Heat H2O Hot Water Recirculation System. It’s a great product that does exactly what it claims—delivers hot water almost instantly without wasting time or water. The biggest highlight for me was how easy it was to install. I’m not a plumber by any means, but the instructions were clear and all the parts were included. I had it up and running in about an hour using basic tools. The programmable timer is a great feature. I set it to run during the times we usually need hot water, and it works flawlessly. Our bedroom shower is on the opposite end of the house from the water heater, and we used to wait forever for hot water. Now, the wait time has been cut by more than half—it makes a big difference in our morning routine. The included sensor valve and adapters made the whole process smooth. It’s also quiet when it runs, which was a nice surprise. Plus, the 3-year warranty gave me peace of mind. Overall, this system is a smart investment if you're tired of waiting for hot water. It’s efficient, easy to install, and adds real convenience. Highly recommended!

After years of waiting for water to reach the far areas of my house, I had finally had enough. This pump exceeded my expectations and works flawlessly. It sat on my counter for a few weeks until I finally decided to install it. Installation time was less than 30 min. It took me longer to get the junk out from beneath the far sink than it did to install. The instructions are straight forward and easy to understand. I did the under the sink valve first. They supply you with all the right hoses and connections. I did have to get long hoses, but that is not the fault of the mfg. My supply pipes are further apart. I bought longer hoses and everything was golden. Installing the pump was beyond easy. Yes I did have to buy the correct CPVC fittings with 3/4" threads to connect to the pump. Less than a dollar at the local hardware. Off the discharge pump I went with a flexible hose that connected to my system. You will have to buy a few extra pvc fittings if you need to make it work with your water heater system. It took less than 30 min to install in total and I plugged it in. I could tell it was working, but the pump is extremely quiet. We set the mode to timer, because we want it on from early morning to around 11 pm at night then the timer shuts off the pump. You will still have hot water, but just not as fast as when the pump is working. Even if you let it run all the time, it would cost around $20 a year, tops, but the timer is a nice feature. So far I am extremely happy with the product and it has hot water at our furthest sink within 5 seconds. Don't hesitate to buy this product.

Our kitchen sink is a ways away from our water heater in the attic. Typical time to wait for hot water was 85 seconds. Installed this puppy and now have hot water in 4-5 seconds! It is remarkable. Two notes on my install. First, I'm pretty handy and could easily have done this myself but for one thing. I don't sweat copper pipes, and the hot water line out of my water heater was soldered copper all the way. So rather than mess this up, I called a plumber to install. He said he'd put in a lot of these units and customers rave about them. Second, I have an electrical outlet in the attic maybe 6 feet from the water heater, so we just plugged the pump in and it worked. Super quiet by the way. The unit basically sits right above our bed and can't be heard at all. The pump has a built-in timer, but if the power goes out, I didn't want to have to go up and reset it, so I bought a Kasa wifi controlled outlet ($13 for 2 on Amazon). I left switches on the pump "on" 24/7 but have the wifi outlet scheduled for 6 am to 9 am and 5 pm to 10 pm so it doesn't run while we are away or asleep. I can always turn it on or off from my phone or through Alexa. The plumber hadn't seen that setup and will likely be suggesting it to his customers going forward. Overall, very happy with the ease of installation and operation of the pump. I'll likely pay for it on saved water bills.

The system works by circulating hot water from a water heater to a distant sink using the cold water pipe as a return line. A sensor valve installed under the sink closes the link to the cold water line when water is turned on at the sink. Install was straight forward and took me about one hour (including moving all the stuff stored under the bathroom sink). Instructions for the installation are detailed and clearly worded with ample illustrations. All parts needed for the installation were included in the box since our sink water supply valves have 3/8' threaded fittings. Adapters are also supplied for 1/2" threaded fittings. If you have some other arrangement you may be making a run to the hardware store. The system works great. Before installing the pump we would wait 2 or 3 minutes to get hot water to the master bath located 55 feet from the water heater. We rarely used the shower or sinks because of the wait and because California is in the middle of a drought and it was a huge waste of water. Now warm water is available in 3 seconds. It takes about 1.5 minutes to reach full temp, but the water is immediately warm enough to comfortably wash your face etc. When the circulation pump is on the cold water line is warm. That has not been a problem for us, but if you want cold glass of water you have to run the water until the hot water is cleared out of the line. After one month of operation we have had no problems. A fifth star is withheld because the there is no easy way to shut the pump off if you leave the house for an extended time. The on-off switch is hard to see and inconveniently located on the pump on the top of the water heater. I could unplug the unit, but then would lose the time on the timer clock.

We have been in this house for 6 years and have been frustrated with how long it takes to get the hot water from the tank to the bathroom. We were always washing hands and brushing teeth with very cold water, and running the tub for a long time before any hot water got there. Finally I found out about this product. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about using the cold line as a return. I thought that would result in warm water when we wanted cold. Also I replaced my tank a couple of years ago and the new tank has a heat trap so I read that it would be a problem with the proper operation of this unit. But my research found that worst case was that I could remove the heat trap on the hot side and replace it with a plain nipple so I decided to purchase the unit and try it out. Installation was fairly straight forward although I had to remove a section of copper pipe and solder it back together, but that was a minor task for me. The hardest part of the installation was tightening the fitting onto the outlet side. There is nothing on the pump housing designed to put a wrench on to stop the pump from turning. I had to put a crescent wrench on the housing where it bolts together which had me a bit concerned about cracking the housing. It did turn out ok though. I got it all installed and fired it up. It is quiet, slight hum, but it is located in an unfinished b a segment (cellar really) so unless I go down there I can’t hear it. The great part is that the heat trap has not interfered with the operation at all. I get hot water at the bathroom sink and tub almost immediately. This makes me very happy every time I turn on the tap. I don’t use the timer at all. I installed a smart outlet linked to a phone app so I can shut off the pump whenever I need to (like if we are going away) but so far the pump runs 24/7 since we are home most of the time, and we want hot water at the bathroom even in the middle of the night. One bonus is that I also get hot water sooner at the kitchen which is on a different branch but it tees off about 10 feet after the tank, so its already about ⅓ of the way there. I may upgrade with an additional valve under the kitchen sink but I am thinking that I will be ok with it the way it is for now. It has been about 2 weeks since install and I am very happy with this pump system.

This is a quality product with good seals and instructions making for an easy installation. Instead of the built-in timer, I'm using a smart timer controlled by my phone.

I really like this product,it definitely does what it’s supposed to.I used to have to wait approximately 60 seconds before getting hot water to my upstairs bathroom.Since installing the watts 500800 the hot water is instant. I decided I would set the timer for a couple of hours in the morning,and then another couple of hours in the evening.To my surprise I had hot water upstairs all the time. The only problem is that the hot water was creeping 24/7 .Where I live we heat our water with furnace oil which doubled in price this past year.Because of this I really didn’t want my hot water heater coming on way more keeping the lines warm 24/7. I unplugged the pump for a couple of days just to see if it was actually creeping for sure .In my case the sensor valve was keeping the hot water moving/creeping even when the pump was shut off. To fix this I installed a check valve on the cold line going to the upstairs,now the creeping has stopped. Now it only works when the timer tells it to which is perfect.To summarize I am happy with the pump but would recommend installing a check valve on the cold to eliminate any possible creeping

The pump and temperature bypass valve have been installed for approximately 1 week and so far so good. I had a concern that the cold water line would be too warm with the hot water bypassing into it to maintain hot water lime temp but not too bad. The cold water from the faucet at the bypass valve sink is at about room temperature. It is a trade off to have room temp cold water instead of icy cold-cold water at the tap since I didn't have to plumb in a return line. I did install a downstream ball valve so the HWH & pump can be isolated if anything requires service in the future The pump has been running 24/7 as I have yet to program the timer so not sure how that is going to work.

Just moved and our ensuite is the furthest away possible from hot water tank. This product solved our issue. Depending on how your sink tap is fitted you might need some extra pieces. Our house didn't have the shutoff valves under the sink so I need some extra pieces to make it work but simple enough to figure out if you have done some simple plumbing before.