Watts 500800 Premier Hot Water Recirculation Pump, Blue

by Watts

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Watts Premier hot water recirculation pump puts hot water at every tap when you want it. Saves up to 15,000 gallons per year. The pump brings convenience and savings to your home, giving you hot water instantly at every faucet, when you need it. This unique product is easy to install and not only provides you with the convenience of hot water when you need it, but saves an average of over 11,000 gallons per year. *May not work with a tankless water heater.

Product Description

Whole House Hot Water Recirculating Pump, Recirculating Pump Mounts To The Hot Water Outlet On The Water Heater & The Sensor Valve Mounts Under The Furthest Lavatory In The House Run, Turns Plumbing Into A Re-Circulating Loop, Every Faucet Will Have Hot Water Instantly, On/Off Timer On Pump Activates The Pump When You Need Hot Water, Saves Over 10,000 Gallons A Year In Wasted Water, 120V Pump Motor With 10' Grounded Plug, Easy To Install.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 6 x 5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000E78XHG
• Item model number: 500800
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,026 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
  • #10 in Home Improvement > Rough Plumbing > Water Pumps & Accessories > Sump Pumps
  • #11 in Home Improvement > Rough Plumbing > Water Heaters & Parts

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

174 of 180 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every house needs this, January 3, 2008

By 

Fixup (North West Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Watts 500800 Premier Hot Water Recirculation Pump, Blue (Tools & Home Improvement)

I don't know why few stores carry this and few people are aware of this great product, including those sales persons in home improvement stores. It gives instant warm water to all the rooms in your house, it saves 10,000 gallons water a year (really, I measured and calculated) and it is so easy to install.

Doubt about if it really works? Try this: go to the farthest faucet in your house and open the hot water. Once the water becomes hot, close it, but not fully, leaving a very small stream. Now go to other faucets and open hot water, you bet, instant hot water! It'll keep this way as long as you keep that small stream flowing.

The problem is that small stream goes wasted. How about recycle it into the hot water heater? Sure, but how? The hot and cold water lines have the same pressure, therefore water cannot go from the hot line into the cold line. What if I add a pump into the hot line? Exactly, that's what this Watts product does. Problem solved.

For a practical and fine product, Watts also add a temperature sensor, so the recirculation only happens when the hot line becomes not so warm. This, plus the stream is really small, adds very small extra energy cost to the heater.

The pump is very small, only 25 watts, using less electricity than a lighting bulb. There is also a 24-hr timer (in 15-minutes increments), allowing you to shut the entire system off during the periods when you do not use warm water, such as sleep and work times. This reduces even further the already very small added energy cost. BTW, the pump is thoroughly quiet, no audible noise at all.

An alternative product is the Laing Autocirc. It is a single piece can all be installed under a sink, could be a better choice for some people. The downside is you need (to add) a AC socket there to power the pump. The upside is the pump does not operate continuously like the Watts; it is controlled by the temperature sensor and thus turns on only when water becomes not so warm. Might save some more Watts than the Watts. Both are available in Home Depot stores.

I cannot think of a single reason not to install such a system into any house. Instant hot water without any side effect or significantly added extra energy cost and saving tons of water each and every year. I wish I have done this long ago and this product will be more widely spread.

PS, a tip: before you start the installation, go to Rite Aid or alike store and buy a pack of Hose Washers for $0.99 (e.g. Plumb Craft by Waxman, 74-114, 6 pieces). After you unplugged the hose from the heater and before you plug it to the pump, you should remove the old washer and use 1 or, if the old one is very thick, 2 of the new washers (I had to use 2). The old washer was usually hardened by the high temperature; if you don't replace it, it will leak water. The menu does not mention this, so I learned this the hard way. BTW, hey Watts: for a $200 product, such washers should have been included.

154 of 162 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Might work, but only if you don't have single handled faucets, July 1, 2008

By 

J. Nelson "MN Jay" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Watts 500800 Premier Hot Water Recirculation Pump, Blue (Tools & Home Improvement)

We purchased this product to try to be more "green" about our water usage. While the product should be able to do what it states, it is going back tomorrow. After installing it, we were getting hot water in the cold water line (despite running the valve test they recommend in the manual). After waiting on hold for awhile, I reached someone who explained that if we had single handled faucets from any of a few manufactures the system would not work. They explained that these faucets would let water flow from the hot to the cold side when the pressure was raised on the hot water supply (which is how this system works). The only fix is to replace a part in the faucet (if available) or replace the faucet. Since this affects six faucets in our house that are too old to get new parts, we are done. I have no problem with this restriction, but it is not listed ANYWHERE, including their web site and instructions. Given that I now have a piece missing from my hot water supply line, it is a little late to tell me now. I give the product an `A' for what it will do, but I give the company an `F' for their documentation and lack of disclosure of a major problem. This is too major (and common) and issue to not tell people about up-front. I feel mislead by Watts.

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works great when it works but there is a catch - weak link, May 28, 2009

By 

Big Jon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Watts 500800 Premier Hot Water Recirculation Pump, Blue (Tools & Home Improvement)

I bought the Watts Premier hot water recirculating system and let me tell you it works great! I did not notice my gas (heating) bill going up significantly at all. It was well worth the investment as far as I am concerned for convenience and saving water.

The only negative thing I can say about it is that the remote stop valve did fail. There was not a whole lot of information about this problem with this system to be found, even on the internet, so I didn't know what was going wrong at first. But slowly it seemed like there was a lot of hot water on the cold side when we turned the cold water on. It was more and more as time went on. And the valve became noisy and sounded like water was going through it all the time. I finally called Watts customer service. After being on hold for a half and hour, I talked to a rep who confirmed to me that the stop valve was failing. They were willing to send me a replacement, but I had to either send the old one back first or pay for one and get a credit after I sent the old one back. They said they are very strict about this because there is only a one year warranty on the valve and people were always calling in trying to get a free replacement after the valve failed or get extra valves when needed.

Because he didn't sound very concerned, I then asked if this was a common problem and he admitted then that YES the valves do inevitably fail. It could be 6 months or a year or two years, three years.... who knows? But they do fail and it's just a matter of time. They really aren't made to last very long. But they are made to last at least a year- long enough to expire the warranty period.

They don't tell you that when you buy it, of course and it doesn't say it in the manual. They mention doing a stop valve test, but they pretty much play it down. Make it sound like "in the rare case" if it fails.... But the truth is that it DEFINITELY will fail, so you really should have an extra one on hand because this whole system relies on this little valve made of plastic. It is unserviceable and who knows what's inside. But it is made of plastic and looks cheap, but actually they want 34.00 a pop for it if you buy it alone or $60.00 in the kit form with the replacement hoses. It really shouldn't be more than 5 bucks. For $34., in my opinion, they should be able to make it with better quality to last much longer like most other plumbing materials- how about some copper and brass? And they do put serial numbers on these cheap little plastic valves just so they can make sure you are not within your short warranty period so they can charge you. So this is the downside -that this stop valve is a little money maker for them that turns you into a repeat customer- kind of like their water filtration systems. Got to keep buying those replacement filters and you know they strategically engineer them to only last so long and unserviceable.

Other than that, it's a good system and does work very well when this valve works. But when it fails (not if, but when), not only are you wasting water again as you wait for the hot water to clear out of the cold side, but you are also wasting much heat energy to boot. So you just have to shut it off and it is no good until you get it fixed. So if you buy one of these, go in with your eyes open and keep an extra valve on hand.

More so, some applications require multiple stop valves depending the way your house is plumbed, which will complicate matters even more. If you require multiple stop valves at different locations, then any one of them can go out at any time and so you should keep multiple extra valves on hand just in case to keep the system working properly. They tend to go out gradually over time like mine did. That may become quite costly and cumbersome. In that regard, I think Watts has a responsibility to their customers to step up the quality of these stop valves. The quality of these valves should at least equal the quality of the pumps that work with them.

The other way to avoid having to use the stop valve is to plumb in a return line back to the water heater from the furthest point. Long term, it may be worth this investment. Either way, I think the hot water system is wonderful to have and I am hooked on it. If not for the valve problem, I would have given it 5 stars. Hope this helps!!