Smart Thermostatic Control
Demand-Sensing Hot Water Recirculation Pump Control
Smart Thermostatic Control for Aquamotion AMK-ODR Thermostatic Valve System. For use in homes without a dedicated recirculation loop.
Satisfies CA Title 24 requirements
- For use on multiple dead-end hot water lines
- Works with tank water heaters
- Works with tankless water heaters
- Program and monitor with a smart phone app for Android and iPhone
- AquaStat hot water recirculating pump
- High flow crossover valves
- Faster hot water delivery than other systems on the market
- Made in the U.S.A. (ships within 2 business days from California)
The Complete Thermostatic Control System includes:
- Smart Thermostatic Control 32
- Stainless steel AquaMotion hot water circulating pump
- High flow AMK-ODR crossover valve kit
- NPT Hall Sensor Flow Meter
- Flange kit
The Smart Thermostatic Control 32 and the AquaMotion AMK-ODR valve and AM5 pump are made in the USA. Only the Smart Thermostatic Control 32 is sold with the AquaMotion high flow thermostatic crossover valve that provides fast, on-demand, hot water to all locations in your house.
The small, plastic valves from Grundfos, Watts, and Taco just don’t have the water flow necessary to quickly heat up the water when you demand it. If you have a system with plastic valves see information on Smart Countdown Control on-demand hot water recirculation timer.
The Smart Thermostatic Control is a demand-sensing hot water recirculation control system designed for homes without a dedicated hot water recirculation loop.
It works using the AquaMotion AMK-ODR high flow thermostatic crossover valve which is installed underneath the sink(s) that are furthest from the water heater and the AquaMotion AquaMotion AM5SF1L pump that is installed on the outlet of the hot water heater.
One AMK-ODR valve needs to be installed at the end of each dead-end hot water line. If you need to know how many valves you need check this guide.
Rather than running the pump all the time or on a timer as other systems do, the Smart Recirculation Control waits until it senses hot water being used anywhere in the house and then turns the pump on.
When the pump runs it pushes water through the AquaMotion AMK-ODR thermostatic crossover valve from the hot water line to the cold water line. Once the hot water reaches the thermostatic crossover valve it closes and stops the flow of water.
The Smart Recirculation Control senses that water has stopped flowing and turns the pump off.
The controller then goes dormant for a user-configurable period of time so it isn’t switching the pump on immediately after heating the system up (default 10 minutes).
The Smart Thermostatic Control demand-sensing hot water recirculation control system is configured via a smartphone app with Live Flow™, which shows the flow meter value in real-time.
The Bluetooth app allows you to easily configure the “on” and “off” flow values independently but tests have shown that the default values work well in most installations.
The Smart Thermostatic Control is also configurable to run via “Smart Timers”TM in order to heat the system up on a schedule. The controller will turn the pump on, allow it to get up to speed, and run it until the flow drops below the “off” value. It will then go to sleep for the dormant period before testing the system for flow again.
Of course, the controller will still run the pump on demand, whenever you need hot water, outside of the timer periods.
The “Smart Timers™” are disabled if the controller doesn’t sense any hot water draw within 24 hours. So if you go on vacation and forget to manually disable the timers, no worries, they will turn themselves off and re-enable as soon as it senses a hot water draw.
The Smart Timers are set via our Android app for Smart Thermostatic Control 32 or iPhone or iPad app for Smart Thermostatic Control 32 using your smart device. Our app does not collect data on our customers.
Turning any domestic hot water system into an on-demand system couldn’t be simpler!
This is the smartest way to install an on-demand hot water system in a house that doesn’t have a dedicated hot water recirculation loop. The Smart Thermostatic Control works with both tank and tankless water heaters.
The tank water heater version has a thermostat that gets attached to the hot water outlet pipe from the water heater to ensure that the temperature of the hot water is greater than 95F to prevent lukewarm water from being pumped throughout the house.
Tankless water heaters don’t need this extra check since they never run out of hot water.
Our demand-sensing hot water recirculation control system works well for homes that have multiple dead-end runs. You would install a thermostatic crossover valve at the end of each dead-end run and a single pump at the water heater and all runs will heat up.
After having the Smart Thermostatic control system on now for several weeks. I have come to the conclusion that I had made the right choice by not installing the pump with timer under the sink as the pumps are not quiet and would wake me up prior to when I wish to wake up. By having the pump at the water tank in the garage and the smart controller I can program the pump with my iphone to start and stop at anytime plus not hearing the pump in the morning. Having instant hot water and conserving water was the objective and has been accomplished. The installation was simple enough for anyone and with basic skills and tools and would recommend that you purchase the controller for a complete perfect solution.
I installed my system a few weeks ago and all is good. All components seem very high quality and everything works as promised. We now have hot water on demand throughout the whole house with a flip of the faucet!
So far I have had the system up and running about 2 weeks. The system was very easy to install and the directions and videos were very helpful. The Android phone app works well for both monitoring and controlling the pump. It took a little tweaking of the setting in the app to get my system performing properly but I like that there is an option to adjust many of the operating parameters. There is only one thing that I would change about the system. If the temperature sensor does not get up to temperature in 1 minute the pump will shut off the cycle. My water heater is located in an unheated space and when it is in the 40s outside the temperature sensor does not always make it up to temp to complete the cycle when cold. I wish I could modify the initial run time to 1:30 or 2 minutes to allow for this. Maybe in a future software release.
This system was straight forward to install and has worked flawlessly for several weeks so far, meeting all my expectations. I was looking for a recirculator to use on a hot water tank without a dedicated return line – and with the pump at the tank (no power at the sink). I wanted something more advanced than simply running the pump for a fixed time on a fixed schedule. The Smart Thermostatic Control incorporates a flow sensor on the cold water side to detect when the cross-over valve has closed and shuts off the recirculation pump, preventing it from running when not needed. This same feature provides the flexibility to request circulation “on demand” when outside of the programmed operating times, without requiring other switches, wiring or integration into a smart home setup – turning hot water on for a couple of seconds at any faucet generates flow and activates the recirculation pump. It’s been great not having to run water for 2+ minutes to get hot water at the faucet or the shower. The other smart capabilities such as monitoring tank outlet temp and auto-disabling timers are also things I didn’t see with other solutions.
A common complaint with any system that doesn’t have a dedicated return line is that the cold water side is always warm during times when the recirculation system is programmed to operate automatically. The on-demand capability of this system mitigates that and I can see myself using that option more as the weather warms up.
Leridian Dynamics was very responsive to my inquiries and questions about the product. They also bundle their controller with the Aquamotion pump – a US manufactured, high quality circulating pump and valve that I have found to be very quiet. The only thing I can criticize in their total solution is the phone app for customizing and monitoring the system settings – the log function rarely works. Otherwise, the app is basic but gets the job done. I have been pleasantly surprised at the distances I’ve been able to connect to the system given it uses bluetooth.
I would recommend this product without hesitation.
Very happy with the system. I did a lot of online research about products to get a hot water loop without the built in loop and this appeared to be the best. Customer support was outstanding. I have 2 hot water heaters in parallel and after discussion with customer support was readily able to put them in series so the system would work. I especially like the smart controller which allows me to see on my cell phone when the pump is running and the flow rate through the valves under the sinks. It also lets me set timers when I most use the hot water. Wonderful to turn on the shower and quickly move under the warm water