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Wastewater comes to mind. A lot of it is heated, either directly (from e.g. showers, cooking) or indirectly because it was stored in toilets. Edit: But then ag
by ulrikrasmussen 5y ago
Wastewater comes to mind. A lot of it is heated, either directly (from e.g. showers, cooking) or indirectly because it was stored in toilets.
Edit: But then again, capturing and re-using the heat energy directly and saving the energy cost for heating via e.g. an electric heater would probably be even more efficient than extracting some of the heat as electricity.
- netcan 5y agoPractical applications are circumstantial. Do you have a way of utilising or storing electricity/heat? If so, either are more efficient than not doing so. For example, if it's cold where you live and the heating is usually running... just expelling the heat from your fridge into the house is efficient. If you are cooling, it's not. Electricity would be better... or at least piping the heat out.
- opwieurposiu 5y agoThis device exists, you replace a vertical section of your sewer pipe with a copper heat exchanger pipe. The HX heats up your incoming cold water when you take a shower. The HX must be vertical because in a vertical sewer pipe, surface tension makes the water spread out and wet the entire inner surface of the pipe for good heat transfer. I looked into the economics at one point. Would be great for a laundromat or hotel, not so much for the average single family home.
- ip26 5y agoThe economics mostly depend on the temperature of the water coming into your house and the ease of install in your house. They are supposedly code on new construction in large parts of Canada now. The economics were also better when copper prices were lower.