I also have recirculation but it’s actually less to operate now than before I installed.
My electricity usage is up an average of .1 KWH per hour. Each KWH IS $.09. So that increase in electricity comes out to 72 KWH a month for $6.48. Our water bill has dropped about $10 a month where we are not running water down the drain waiting for hot water and this has also reduced the load on septic.
I spent a lot of time insulating pipes and setting up timers Ali g with thermostatic controls but it has paid off.
Sense did a study about this type of system and had access to all my data but I never saw their results. I have just used sense to calculate the difference by observation and running ours in circulation for a time and then with the system shut down and turned off.
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I had the same setup. I started first by just unplugging the pump that would circulate the water. That didn’t solve the problem. I have since posting my thread, turned off the valves that you referenced on your setup. It has been less than three weeks since doing this, and my estimated yearly cost based upon the last 30 days has dropped more than $200.
If you heavily insulate your lines with an R-value around 7 and add a timer and thermostat so it only circulates when the temperature drops and while the timer is in the in position, you could keep the convenience at a lower cost.
Of course the design of your system could be a manifold system and if it is, they are nearly impossible to make efficient with recirculation
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