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It’s a thing in the US too, but not common. I always understood them to be expensive to use, as you always have a pump running and hot water cooling down and needing reheating.

Hot water recirculating pump. https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/hot-water-recirculati...

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Yes, in the Soviet Union, hot water was a byproduct of production of electricity - using combined heat and power, it was a waste heat. And it used lots of electricity to make weapons to advance dictatorship of proletariat, so there was plenty of free heat, too.

My house originally had a recirculating pump for the hot water but it burned out. Somehow though, it still (mostly) worked and had instant _warm_ water.

I think it was through natural convection/circulation - the hot water expanded in the tank and pushed it through the recirculating loop?

So maybe there's a good-enough solution that doesn't require a pump, just a return loop.

Now I have an on-demand water heater with a built-in recirculating pump, so it's instantly hot :)

This is how rooftop solar water heaters circulate water as well. Though these days you'd be better off with PEV plus a small electric heater.

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