6 ms·
Typically the drain pipe for such heat exchangers is a normal drain pipe — large diameter, no kinks, etc. — and made out of copper. A larger pipe surrounds it,
by jonstewart 4y ago
Typically the drain pipe for such heat exchangers is a normal drain pipe — large diameter, no kinks, etc. — and made out of copper. A larger pipe surrounds it, bushings and T sections at either end of the segment. Cold water flows into one T section, flows around the drain pipe and extracts heat, then out the other T and into the cold water input of the hot water heater. There are a million YouTube videos on how to make one, and there are now readymade commercial products to buy, too. The tricks are getting at your shower drain and getting the cold water input piped over to it.
- benj111 4y agoDo you mean t section? That to me means a junction with one side going off at 90, like a T. I don't get why you'd do that in this situation though.
- zcw100 4y agoI get the desire to do stuff like this but the numbers never work out. Wrapping a large diameter drain pipe with copper is hella expensive and a terrible heat exchanger. It would take a century to recover the cost of the copper plus installation. Also It's best not to screw around with waste water. You want that stuff to get to where it needs to go. There are enough problems with it even when you're not messing around and even one backup during the its lifetime would easily cause enough damage to offer the entire thing.
- jonstewart 4y agoIt’s not the whole drain pipe. It’s maybe 18”. Encourage you to google it.
- zcw100 4y agoWhy exactly 18"? That's some specific installation. You can make it any length you want. I encourage you to not be so smug.