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Old 03-01-10, 01:13 PM   #4
Xringer
Lex Parsimoniae
 
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Location: Woburn, MA
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The bad news for me is my sewer drain is over half way up my basement wall. So, I don't have much vertical drop to splice one in...

I have the same problem. Plus, the area where we make the hot water
is half way across and on the other side of the basement.

However, I think this idea might be workable by using a short unit
fed from the tub drain which is about a yard above the lowest input
to the sewer plumbing.

My tub is Very close to being right on top of the main sewer exit pipe.

If I could install a short (fat?) 24" unit in the shower drain line, and reroute
the cold water going to the tub, I could take the chill out of the cold water,
making it possible to use less hot water from the boiler..

I would insulate the exchanger, fer sure..

Edit: Saw this..
Trimline Design Centre: Watercycles HX-3030
That HX-3030 looks petty simple to make.

According to what my old moonshiner Grandpa from NC told me, one could make
a copper tube coil by filling the tubing with sand. Use wood plugs in each end
and the hard-packed sand would allow the tube to bend without kinks..

So, maybe using a dowel that was a bit smaller than the large copper drain pipe,
I could make a nice tight coil around it, then force the coil onto the drain pipe.?.
Insulate the whole thing and plug-n-play!

This is really starting to sound like a good DIY project!

Last edited by Xringer; 03-01-10 at 03:48 PM.. Reason: adding idea
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