Dear Jim: Our water heater supplies ample hot water, but it takes a long time for it to reach the bathrooms. Without installing larger pipes, are there any simple fixes I can do myself to get hot water quicker? – Mike M.

Dear Mike: Your situation is common and you are wasting more than just your time in the mornings. You are paying for the thousand of gallons of water wasted down the drain each year. Also, that wasted water is partially heated from your house, so energy is wasted as well.

There are several simple fixes for this problem that will bring hot water to any faucet in your home within 10 seconds and eliminate all the wasted water. One method is installing a quick-delivery pump-control unit under just one bathroom sink or installing a miniwater heater in each bathroom.

A quick-delivery unit is the most efficient method and the kits include everything needed for do-it-yourself installation. You just unscrew the water lines underneath the sink in the bathroom farthest from the water heater. Attach flexible pipes (in the kit) from the water valves to the unit. Attach another set of flexible pipes to the faucet and plug it in.

There is a tiny high-speed pump, diverter valve and temperature sensor inside the unit. When you want hot water, the pump starts drawing hot water from the water heater. Instead of dumping the cold water from the long pipe down the drain, the diverter valve puts it back into the cold water line.

As soon as the hot water reaches the unit under the sink, the temperature sensor shuts off the pump. It also switches the diverter valve so the hot water comes out the faucet as normal. These tiny pumps consume only about $2 of electricity over an entire year’s usage. If you locate the unit under the sink in the bathroom furthest from the water heater, it fills that entire hot water pipe. With the pipe full, you will also get hot water much faster to other bathrooms on that branch.

There are several types of controls for these quick-delivery kits. With a demand control, you push a button to start the unit when you want hot water. Additional wireless remote demand buttons can be mounted in other bathrooms or the kitchen. This is the most efficient type of control.

Another design uses a timer to start the unit. This system starts and stops automatically during the timer “on-time” so you have hot water immediately at the faucet.

Write for (instantly download – www.dulley.com) Update Bulletin No. 429 – buyer’s guide of 13 demand/timer quick-delivery hot water kits and mini-water heaters listing controls, features, energy usage, prices, and installation instructions. Include $3 and a business-size SASE, and send to James Dulley, 6906 Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45244.