Point of Use vs. Recirculating Pump for Hot Water?

how long is a long time?
This is the downside of tankless heaters.
Most would add in a point of use, I'm less familiar with recirculating pumps. But if it keeps the water always hot in the pipes that will be very expensive.

For a recirculating system you will need rework how the hot water is distributed. you will need a hot water return line back to the pump/water heater. Depending on how the house is piped this can be easy or near impossible without major rework. IF your hot water is looped under the slab to each fixture, then you will need to get into the walls and run a return line up to the attic and back to the heater, collecting each fixture as you go back.

you need to make a loop. the loop will always be hot, and the distance from the loop will determine how long it takes to get hot water.

if you get a POU and place it under your sink, you will need to add a restrictor into the aerator to reducre flow in order to give the heater time to raise the temp. for a 120V outlet, you can get a 3.5kW unit.

with a 3.5kW heater you get less then 0.5 GPM with a 50 degree temp rise (60 - 110)

Thanks Plumbing is crawl space and easily accessible so that shouldn't be too bad. Flow restrictions and increase demand on electrical service seem to be main downsides of pou systems

since there is no tank, a recirculating pump would just recirculate cold water, or if it pumps through the heater, it would run almost constantly. one way does nothing for you and the other defeats the economy of a tankless.

Put in a second smaller tankless for the kitchen and guest bath.

Thanks. Gonna go down to our local plumber's wholesale talk to them and see what they've got. Went to school with him so hopefully won't screw me too hard