View Single Post
Old 09-17-15, 04:46 PM   #12
ctgottapee
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Central IL
Posts: 97
Thanks: 34
Thanked 9 Times in 8 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by marx290 View Post
dhaslam, I hear what you're saying with freezing pipes. I don't really have that problem here, but I can see how warm wastewater could be needed.

I haven't messed with the evacuated tubes yet, but I've heard great things! I'd prefer the passive method over one which consumes electricity, but in certain situations, cooling is needed anyway, so you know...birds...stones...awful phrase. :-P

I'm planning on eventually heating water as a byproduct of power generation, but I still enjoy the subject of heat pumps, and I think there are practical ways to improve them.

Ctgottapee, I guess I wasn't specific enough; I am talking about pumping heat out of waste water, not passively preheating water before it goes to a water heater. Yes, the long copper heat exchangers are not practical for all situations. What I was thinking of was a heat exchanger tank, with either immersed coils, or evaporator coils wrapped around the outside of the metal tank. A clean out port would be necessary to spray it out a bit. Of course, you wouldn't want any blackwater going in there!
The long pipe is the solution. You can't really extract any more heat out of the water without creating issues with the waste water mucking things up. There has been quite of bit of testing put into it. It's an elegant solution to creating a tank the self cleans.

I did see a horizontal shower specific model once, but I don't think it made it to market in any shape.


I've thought about running a cold water pipe inside a waste water pipe to the shower to serve a similar purpose
ctgottapee is offline   Reply With Quote