I have been messing around with Rule Machine most of the afternoon trying to figure out exactly how to do what I am trying to do. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. I just purchased a Watts Hot Water re-circulation pump, and have it plugged into a GE Z-Wave outlet.
Here is where things get a little strange. I am not sure if what I am doing is even possible.
I would like the Hot Water Pump to turn on when motion is detected in either bathroom, along with button push, and obviously when asked by Alexa (Button and voice command will be used in the kitchen, as I don't want to wear on the pump with it triggering with motion on and off as our dogs are constantly roaming in those areas.)
I want the pump to turn off 30 minutes after motion has stopped in either bathroom. I would also like for the pump to turn off 30 minutes after it has been turned on via voice or button.
I may be over-complicating this in my head - but I cannot seem to get this to work right! Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is driving me nuts!
I find that if I run the pump for 3 minutes, it is sufficient for hot water to make it to the faucet that is farthest away from the water heater (master bathroom). And that hot water remains at that faucet for ~15 minutes (my pipes aren't insulated). If your pipes are insulated, that time will be longer.
So my rule runs the pump for no more than 3 minutes at a time, and does not let the pump run if it has been run within the last 15 minutes. The pump also does not turn on if the Mode is Away.
So with all that said, here's what I use:
Trigger:
Bathroom motion is active
or
Kitchen motion is active
Actions:
IF (Private Boolean is False or Mode is Away) THEN
Exit Rule
ELSE
Set Private Boolean False
On: Hot Water
Off: Hot Water --> delayed: 0:03:00
Set Private Boolean True --> delayed: 0:15:00
END-IF
You could use something very similar - you need to determine the length of time the pump needs to be on for hot water to reach the farthest faucet from the water heater, and the length of time water stays hot in the pipes.
The "Mode is Away" bit takes care of the dogs triggering it while you're gone.
Edit: You could also add a Time of Day restriction if you wanted .....
I just got the same exact pump!
I suppose I definitely was overthinking it! I will definitely try this out.
One of our dogs does laps around our kitchen while we are home. That why I figured the button or voice would be better for that area, as I don't want to wear on the pump by having it turn on and off - over and over.
The thing I want to point out to you is this - once hot water has reached the farthest faucet, there is no point in running the pump any more. It's only going to pump more water into the cold water line (I don't have a dedicated return line in my house), or into the return line if your house has one. Either way, a waste of electricity.
Definitely makes sense to me. I just got it installed earlier today and wasn't sure exactly how long it takes for it to run to the furthermost point, and how long it would need to run. Thank you for the information. I greatly appreciate it. You made my night a lot easier! hahaha!
Also, running it the way I do - the darn thing (and the valve it comes with) have lasted >5 years. Just checked Amazon, I purchased it in January 2014.I think that's pretty good for something that was under $200.
I lucked out the other day. I went to Lowe's to pick it up, and scanned it on the Amazon app to see what the price difference was. Lowe's had it for $199.99. I got them to price match Amazon's price of $148.90! Didn't have to wait for shipping. Win, win!
I had seen a lot of people saying similar things online in their reviews of the product. It initially worried me a little, until I saw that the device is only pulling .22A, at 25W.
A lot of the early reviewers didn't know how to use the thing. They would install it in houses without a dedicated return line to the tank, and run it continuously.
If they had an electric water heater, then this means they were continually heating incoming cold water (because hot water was being pushed into the cold water line). And so they saw higher electric bills.
The correct way to run it is your plan: run times that are long enough to bring hot water to the farthest faucet, but no longer than that.
I added "hot water on" to the trigger events. I did this in the event a button or voice triggers the hot water pump to be on, then the rest of the rule would follow. Is that correct? I have never used private booleans before!
That won't work. That will leave the hot water running continually if Hot Water is turned on while Private Boolean is False.
For that to work, change the actions to be like this:
IF (Private Boolean is false) THEN
IF (Hot Water is On) Off: Hot Water
Exit Rule
ELSE
Set Private Boolean False
On: Hot Water
Off Hot Water --> delayed: 0:03:00
Set Private Boolean True --> delayed: 0:15:00
END-IF
Use a Simple Conditional for "IF (Hot Water is On) Off: Hot Water"
Thank you!
So this would work correct then?
If motion or the switch is on (from alexa, or a button) then the pump will run for 3 minutes and turn off. Ignore all other motion and requests for 15 minutes - then will be allowed to turn on again...
And if the switch is turned on manually (or with Alexa) during the 15 minutes it is supposed to be off, it will immediately turn off.
You need to do two more things to get this perfect:
Pause the rule, and then:
Turn on the pump and figure out exactly how long it takes for hot water to reach the farthest sink (the one where you installed the thermostatic valve).
Make a note of that time, and replace the 3 minutes with that time.
Once you get hot water at the sink, turn the faucet off and wait 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes to see how long the water is still hot for. Replace the 15 minutes with that length of time.
That is what I will be doing. Thank you so much.
I am still trying to get the hang of the rule machine. I have gotten a lot more of the simple ones nailed down, but some of the more complex ones are a bit over my head. I think I tend to overthink a lot of it - I use to be a web developer / programmer by trade, and I believe it just throws me off for some reason. I have a few others that I just can't seem to get to work right - but I'll figure it out someday. They aren't as important as this one!
Well now there is something weird going on. When the switch is triggered by voice, motion, or button - the pump turns on, then immediately turns back off. Even if I press the button on the switch itself to turn on - it turns right back off. I have paused the automation and it turns on and off just fine with voice or button. As soon as the rule becomes un-paused, it doesn't work properly and only turns on, and immediately back off.
I gave a good cool down period of 20 minutes thinking the timer needs to run out. It still does it. Not sure what to do.
