My hot water heater was drained by a plumber today because of discolored water. I can't contact him now and the water is lukewarm. I noticed the valve between the exhaust/drain faucet and the recirculator pump is closed. Should it be open? Is that what is preventing the water from getting hot?

Hi Coachjimb

The hot water recirculator shut off valve is normally in the open position, but it being open or closed will not PREVENT water from getting hot. What a closed circulating loop will do is to DELAY the availability of hot water to fixtures... especially ones far away from the hot water heating source, right?

First, confirm you are getting hot water by running hot water only from the faucet closest to the hot water source... could take a minute or so. Once you confirm hot water is being made, you can rest assured that you have hot water being made and can then, most likely, just open the recirculator shut off valve and hopefully, all is fixed. If this fails to resolve the problem, call the plumber back in to fix the issue(s).

Mark