I own a 2400 square foot condo with its own hot water heater. When I turn the hot water knob on any of the sink or shower faucets, it takes way too long for hot water to flow out (30 to 60 seconds or longer). When the hot water finally begins to flow, it does become hot. Is there anything I can do to make hot water more readily available? Thank you.

There are two option that I am aware of... One option is to pipe in a recirculating hot water line... Here, you tie in a pipe (1/2" copper...3/4" PEX... cpvc... whatever) at the bathroom hot water pipe (lavatory/sink probably best) and run it back to the water heater where you install a circulator pump (needs electricity and switch to turn on and off... in case you do not want it on sometimes, etc.) and actually create a loop of hot water so it is available instantaneously at the bathroom battery thereafter (must tie into the cold water feed into water heater to create/complete the proper loop (shutoffs to isolate, check valve (debatable.. I am sure)... this is usually reserved for larger homes.. but is an option that is good if bathroom on 1st floor and pipes are easy to get at... IF NOT...>>>>>

Then there is also an instantaneous type solution that also ties into the pipes under the sink (needs electricity run to under sink... probably easy to grab power from the GFCI outlet down to under sink). Here... seems simplest to me... small pump keeps water at certain temps. And dumps water back into the cold water pipe... pretty cool really... Not sure of the name of it right now... but if you want me to find the name (or maybe one of the other guys knows the name) just let me know and I will post it tomorrow or no later than the next day... let me know.

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Thank you very much for the reply. I have this hot water flow problem in the entire unit (kitchen and bathrooms). The distance from the hot water heater to each of these rooms is relatively short. Shouldn't the plumbing in place be able to transport the hot water in a reasonable amount of time without requiring additional measures? Thanks again.

OK... guess I should have started here... What kind of water heater (gas/electric)? How large
(30-40-50-60-75)? How is the pressure on hot and cold water pipe? How large is your water main... 1/2" copper...3/4" copper... 1" copper.. Do you have PEX pipe in place? Has this issue been an issue since you moved in.. waiting for replies.. will contact right back

It is a 50 gallon gas powered Bradford White unit. It appears to have 3/4" copper piping. The water pressure in general is on the weak side. I have had this issue since I purchased the unit 2 years ago. Sorry, I do not know what a PEX pipe is. Thank you.

OK... describe this delay a little more... You should have plenty of volume and therefore plenty of hot water. Be sure though that it takes time for water to travel and heat pipes that are sitting at room temperature for an amount of time... I mean... hot water is not instant or even near instant in any home. Most homes require 20-30 seconds until they have good hot water at the sink... even more if farther away.

I essentially have VERY cold water for 30 to 60 seconds or more, then it gradually gets warmer and warmer until it finally becomes hot. This is the case in every sink and shower.

I just tested this out. It was taking upwards of 2 minutes or more to get the water hot out of some of the faucets. I couldn't even get the one in the kitchen to discharge hot water (ironically, it's the closest to the hot water heater). However, after turning on the dishwasher then retesting all the faucets, they all discharged hot water relatively promptly.

Hi... Mm, two minutes is way too much time... I would say all was OK if up to a minute... but two minutes (or there abouts).?
And again, the delay is a normal part of the hot water heating the cooled pipe up until it reaches the faucet desired and reaches equilibrium with the temperature of the hot water.

But two minutes seems odd... I hate to keep asking questions, but is there plenty of hot water once you get in... say the shower.. Can you take a good long shower with no issue.. Does the water temp. begin to dwindle as you go..

Also, wondering what kind of condo.. Is it a condo. Complex or is a 2-3-4 family conversion over to condos.. Just wondering this because if so pipes could be run all over the place and back again... just a thought.

Go down to the heater.. after knowone has used for awhile and using cell phones with a friend, have them turn on hot water to nearest fixture and follow the hot water as it feeds toward the fixture.. trace it out a bit.. see if it is a direct path or you end up travelling all over the place..

Just seems like your hot water heater is doing its job... unless... you answer positive to any of the above questions... please let me know... I will try to stay with you on this one.

Also, do not be afraid to call on speedball1, Ballenegerb1, Iamgrowler, palmMp3, doug238... these guys have some great ideas as well (can Private message them by clicking on their names out at the questions section). Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks again for your follow up. Regarding your questions... There seems to be enough hot water once it actually starts flowing. Multiple people can shower and the hot water doesn't appear to dwindle in any noticeable way. I live in what is referred to as a Golf Villa. It is part of a building with 4 units... there is a unit on each end and two in the middle (mine is the top one in the middle). The building was built in 2000 or 2001.

Home depot sells a recirc system for 200 dollars. It puts a pump on the water heater and a connecting apparatus under the farthest sink or lavatory.