Can hot watter be put into a hot water heater at the normal water input to keep the water heater from runnign?
Question:Say if I have a wood furnace I would like to route water through the furnace into the water heater, rather than cold water from the city, so that the water heater does not have to run as much to have hot water.
I might even have to run some water from the water heater back through the wood furnace so the hot water heater will not turn on after water cools from noone using it.
Will this work?
Answers:
Yep - it's called a heat exchanger. A line is run from the water heater to your furnace, where a heat exchanger of some sort (some look like radiators, some a simple loop of pipe) picks up heat from the furnace, and then returns back to the heater tank. The system can be designed as either convection driven (no pump), or pump driven.
While this can be done as a total DIY, be aware that there are definite risks. If you don't have a means of handling the pressure and heat build up, you can turn the water line into a high-pressure steam system that will blow apart all your copper solder joints. That's why most home insurance companies won't touch a home built domestic hot water system.
Try googling "heat exchanger furnace water", and you'll find both parts suppliers and companies that sell/install complete systems.
The warmer the incoming temp, the less the water heater will have to heat it.
yes it will work
you are just preheating the water
good use of furnace it's on any ways
just don't over heat it
I have seen systems similar to that, both with wood burning units and solar. Good luck.
Yes it would work.
Question is will you be using the furnace in the summer?
Why not get an "On Demand" hot water heater which only heats the water you are using at the time you are using it?
Good Luck ! ! !
Maybe if you had a storage tank that would circulate that city water into it and be able to heat it before it would draw into your heater you are trying to not use. It will work but and bath day and wash the cloths day don't look for any big savings. You will use up more water in that preheat loop at the wood burner than it could ever think about keeping up with.
The safety fixture that you want to install in this heating thing is called an expansion tank. You can go to a plumbing store and they could size it for you. As long as you have it tied in with your HWH the TP valve (temperature pressure ) will handle most of your problem in that department. The expansion tank will just take the pressure a little longer before the TP valve lets go.
very dangerous job,why bypass safety features that's why they put high pressure switches in boiler and heating systems,get a wall unit that turns on only when you need hot water and off when faucet is shut,i know people that have died doing crazy things like you are about to do,safety rules were made for a reason.
I think this idea was attacked many moons ago. they devices a " pre-heat tank" that does this very job. The water in the preheat tank is " pre heated" before it goes into the hot water heater - and the hot water heater will not have to run as long since the water is already heated somewhat.
It would probably work, but unless somebody is using the hot water, don't you think the water just sitting in the tank would cool down causing the heater to come on anyway. The only time water comes into the tank is when water goes out of the tank. Wouldn't it make more sense to run your hot water through the hot water pipes and put a thermal switch on the water tank? You may also have to install a pressure regulator in the line somewhereincase the water get's too hot and builds too much pressure.
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