Summary
brick:Domestic_Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump is currently a subclass of brick:Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump. That nests the potable domestic hot water pump under the hydronic closed-circuit hot water pump. This is inconsistent with how Brick separates domestic from heating hot water elsewhere — Domestic_Hot_Water_System is a sibling of Hot_Water_System (not a child), and #781 proposes the same sibling treatment for Domestic_Hot_Water_Storage_Tank vs. Hot_Water_Storage_Tank.
Current definitions (v1.4)
Circulator_Pump — "Used to move hot or cold water in a closed circuit, ensuring continuous fluid flow."Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump — "Used to move hot water in a closed circuit, ensuring continuous flow." (parent: Circulator_Pump)Domestic_Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump — "Used to move domestic hot water in a closed circuit, ensuring continuous flow." (parent: Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump)
Problem
Domestic hot water recirculation is a potable service, a different medium and system from hydronic heating "hot water." Making the domestic pump a child of the heating-water pump asserts an "is-a-kind-of" relationship that doesn't hold: a DHW recirculation pump is not a specialization of a hydronic-heating circulator. Brick already treats this distinction as a sibling split at the system level; the pump hierarchy should match.
Proposed change
Re-parent Domestic_Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump to be a direct subclass of brick:Circulator_Pump, as a sibling of Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump:
Circulator_Pump
├── Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump (hydronic / heating closed loop)
├── Domestic_Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump (potable DHW recirculation) ← re-parent here
├── Chilled_Water_Circulator_Pump
└── Condenser_Water_Circulator_Pump
Optionally, tighten the Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump definition to make its hydronic/heating scope explicit (parallel to the HVAC scoping already stated on Hot_Water_Storage_Tank), removing the ambiguity that currently lets "hot water" read as either domestic or heating.
Questions
- Q1 — Mechanism. Re-parent to
Circulator_Pump (sibling), or keep it under Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump and only relax that parent's definition? The sibling re-parent is cleaner and matches the system-level precedent.
- Q2 — Definition symmetry. Should
Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump be tightened to "hydronic/heating hot water" for symmetry with the tank hierarchy?
Related: #781 (same domestic-vs-HVAC consistency for tanks), #780, #777.
drafted with Claude Code
Summary
brick:Domestic_Hot_Water_Circulator_Pumpis currently a subclass ofbrick:Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump. That nests the potable domestic hot water pump under the hydronic closed-circuit hot water pump. This is inconsistent with how Brick separates domestic from heating hot water elsewhere —Domestic_Hot_Water_Systemis a sibling ofHot_Water_System(not a child), and #781 proposes the same sibling treatment forDomestic_Hot_Water_Storage_Tankvs.Hot_Water_Storage_Tank.Current definitions (v1.4)
Circulator_Pump— "Used to move hot or cold water in a closed circuit, ensuring continuous fluid flow."Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump— "Used to move hot water in a closed circuit, ensuring continuous flow." (parent:Circulator_Pump)Domestic_Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump— "Used to move domestic hot water in a closed circuit, ensuring continuous flow." (parent:Hot_Water_Circulator_Pump)Problem
Domestic hot water recirculation is a potable service, a different medium and system from hydronic heating "hot water." Making the domestic pump a child of the heating-water pump asserts an "is-a-kind-of" relationship that doesn't hold: a DHW recirculation pump is not a specialization of a hydronic-heating circulator. Brick already treats this distinction as a sibling split at the system level; the pump hierarchy should match.
Proposed change
Re-parent
Domestic_Hot_Water_Circulator_Pumpto be a direct subclass ofbrick:Circulator_Pump, as a sibling ofHot_Water_Circulator_Pump:Optionally, tighten the
Hot_Water_Circulator_Pumpdefinition to make its hydronic/heating scope explicit (parallel to the HVAC scoping already stated onHot_Water_Storage_Tank), removing the ambiguity that currently lets "hot water" read as either domestic or heating.Questions
Circulator_Pump(sibling), or keep it underHot_Water_Circulator_Pumpand only relax that parent's definition? The sibling re-parent is cleaner and matches the system-level precedent.Hot_Water_Circulator_Pumpbe tightened to "hydronic/heating hot water" for symmetry with the tank hierarchy?Related: #781 (same domestic-vs-HVAC consistency for tanks), #780, #777.
drafted with Claude Code