I installed a new water heater and now am only getting cold water from any hot water faucet in the house. All connections were verified and the tank has hot water in it. The outlet piping is hot to the touch as well. How could this be? Since we just moved into this house it is unclear if there is a circulating system or not. How could this be determined? Or does anyone have another possible cause.

Have you solved your situation?

Was unable to resolve to ourselves. It turns out the hot water heater did not need to be replaced. The day before hot water was lost a new shower valve was installed and the plumber did not make all necessary adjustments. Once all adjustments were made all was fine, and we got a new hot water heater and a lot frustration out of the whole situation.

So did the plumber charge for the water heater installation too? That is not right if he did.

We installed the water heater ourselves and he did not charge for the return trip to make the necessary adjustments to the shower valve.

Want to complicate this a bit more? You have options. If you want instant hot water you can get a recirculating system to go on your water heater. It costs 200.00 from home depot.
I had responded to your post because I was going back in the history and responding to posts that had not received an answer.