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Old 06-05-2008, 03:07 PM   #18 (permalink)
fshagan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ttoyoda View Post
Minimize, sure, but with those copper pipes sticking out, there are serious limitations on how much you will be able to reduce the heat loss.. The best you can do is to insulate the inlet all the way to where the water pipe comes into the house, and the insulate the outlet pipe till it goes into a wall.. That is still not very good.
Thermal traps are the order of the day, with insulation extending to the thermal trap. That reduces the radiation losses dramatically. Some heaters incorporate thermal traps into their instructions.

A thermal trap can be thought of as an upside-down sink trap; after exiting the water heater, loop the pipe down below where it exits the water heater by 6 - 12", then back up. Insulate. Heat rises, so the hot water from the tank will only go up into the pipe to the top of the "trap" you just plumbed. Its amazing how much difference you can feel between the portion of the pipe between the high point and the heater and the portion after the high point. You will save more doing this than installing a timer, but as with a timer, the cost gets too high for reasonable payback unless you are doing the work yourself.
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