Maybe my experience doesn't match that of others. I have recirc systems in both a HERMS for 10 gallon batches and an Anvil recirc for 5 gallon batches, but I don't think I have recirculated in over 8 months...I just went back to stirring the mash several times through the course of a mash, applying low heat (50% power at the set point) on the Anvil and no heat on the 10 gallon batch (the mass seems to hold well enough in my InfuSSion Mash Tun). Easy peasy and a little less to clean.
I can see the desire to mechanize, but more and more, I return to simple approaches used over the years (like batch sparging!)