EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Conservation
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-22-08, 03:20 PM   #1
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default drain water heat recovery

Has anyone used or know about drain water heat recovery? I am incredibly interested and am most likely going to try this out.

http://gfxtechnology.com/

__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-08, 03:39 PM   #2
bennelson
Home-Wrecker
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 546
Thanks: 3
Thanked 165 Times in 96 Posts
Default

Hmmm - right on that web page, it shows a couple of installations and says where they are. Including one at a Dartmouth College Dorm.

Too bad we don't know anyone on this forum who is a Dartmouth student who could go take a look at it!

(And by this, I mean SVOboy. I did get the right school, didn't I?)

-Ben
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
bennelson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-08, 03:58 PM   #3
Tony Raine
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 57
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

huh, so its basically running your cold water through some copper pipe wrapped around a copper drain pipe from your shower?

good idea, and it sounds easy enough to build yourself........
Tony Raine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-08, 04:55 PM   #4
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony Raine View Post
good idea, and it sounds easy enough to build yourself........
Thats exactly my thought on it!

Since they install them vertically, the water going down the drain clings to the sides of the pipe creating a thin film and thus a great amount of surface area to sap the heat out of it.

Yeah, it would be nice if SVOboy could get us some actual info. He just moved back the other day.
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-08, 08:09 PM   #5
dremd
Need More Eco
 
dremd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Scott, La
Posts: 172
Thanks: 2
Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts
Send a message via AIM to dremd
Default

a buddy of mine has been talking about doing that forevor, must help . . . .

I bet it would be killer for a kitchen with a big dishwasher, or someplace like a dorm where there is heavy use per shower.
dremd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-23-08, 10:06 AM   #6
SVOboy
Administrator
 
SVOboy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 291
Thanks: 3
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
Default

I'll send out some emails to "the right people" and see if they can either tell me or connect me with someone in the sustainability office or facilities, operations, and management to talk about the heat recovery.
SVOboy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-27-08, 05:25 PM   #7
mopo3
Oil Tycoon
 
mopo3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Houston
Posts: 1
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

I'm a chemical engineering student at georgia tech, and this is basically a simple energy balance. I have an excel sheet that you can use to calculate the economics.

spreadsheet (for calculations)
http://sites.google.com/site/showerh...attredirects=0

Diagram
http://sites.google.com/site/showerh...attredirects=0

Description (open in openoffice)
http://sites.google.com/site/showerh...attredirects=0
__________________
ecomodder.com
mopo3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-15-08, 09:55 AM   #8
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

I just checked out your spreadsheet for calculations. What efficiency does the sheet use for the heat exchanger? There is a pretty large variance between the different models avaliable.

Here are also two more companies that make them.

RenewABILITY Energy, Inc.

ReTherm™ - Drain Water Heat Recovery Solutions
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-24-08, 08:14 PM   #9
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

I found another maker of these things. It appears that this one can be installed horizontally or vertically. The website doesn't say much about how it operates though.

EcoDrain | high performance shower heat exchange
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-24-08, 10:43 PM   #10
knowbodies
Home Improvement Goon
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Moose Jaw, SK, CA
Posts: 96
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox View Post
I found another maker of these things. It appears that this one can be installed horizontally or vertically. The website doesn't say much about how it operates though.

EcoDrain | high performance shower heat exchange
From what I understand of the diagram they have on How does it work? | EcoDrain, they use the waste heat from the water going down the shower drain to preheat the cold water line to the shower. Depending on the length of the pipes involved, I've probably finished my shower before the heat can make it's way around that circuit. I can only see it being useful in a location where many showers take place (the next person taking a shower will get the benefit of the waste heat from your shower). In a home like mine (the wife is up at 5:30am, I'm up at 7:00am, the kids bathe in the evening) the benefit would be very very minimal.

You could run the shower water underneath the floor in front of the shower and have a nice warm place for your feet when you get out but I wouldn't want to try and clean the hair out that kind of drain.

knowbodies is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Tags
drain water, heat recovery

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:25 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design