Water heating using ONLY the pilot light

[stevey_frac]

Originally Posted by MissileStick

I use .5 GPM aerators on the bathroom sink, 1.5 on the kitchen, and 1.5 in the shower. I never wash hands with warm water (the water in the pipe is room temperature, and it's the scrubbin' that gets you clean!) The dishwasher gets run maybe 4x/week, and we get in about 1.5 showers/day with no problems (mine is absurdly low water ). Even if I take a 15 minute shower after someone else, I don't have to adjust the temperature at the end.



Cool. I had never heard of this kind of water heater. Here's the EnergyStar page on them.

Do you have a reference for what you said about flames being a thermodynamic cycle? I don't see how that could be, since there's no work being done.



I've thought about it, but I worry about the over-temperature valve going off!



Those are so cool. If I had my druthers I would install one in a heartbeat.


That sounds like a great integrated system for hot water, stevey_frac. You might be interested in this low-cost, low-energy shower instructable.

My house has the water heat recovery unit, and a high efficiency condensing hot water heater.

I'm also considering putting in an air conditioner with a desuper-heater to both improve the efficiency of the A/C and to preheat the water that gets fed to the water heater.


Flames can't be accurately described as a thermodynamic cycle, and you caught me on that.

What i should have said instead is that at higher load, the burner is probably more efficient. You might be high enough flame temperatures anyways, I'm not sure. The more I think about that, the more i question that. With such a simple fuel as natural gas, i think you'll end up with complete combustion from any flame burned in an excess of oxygen...

[shovel]

I thought of another way to save gas around the house... move to Phoenix.

I have gas water heater, gas house heater, and gas clothes dryer, and so far this year the variable part of my gas bill (the part that actually changes depending on how much I use - as opposed to the fixed monthly service charge) adds up to $24 through the end of july.


(electric bill is a whole other story... )

[dremd]

Pilot Lights do make a lot of heat (Killing 3 of them made a very noticeable improvement in my kitchen). I'm still impressed that the water will stay/ get warm. Makes me think that an adjustable/ automated vent might be ideal for a traditional setup . . . .

[MissileStick]

I turned off the two pilots in my stove, but the one in the oven is unavoidable.

I've always thought that if I needed additional hot water, I could install some sort of vent that opened in response to the greater draft created by the main burner.

[IsaacCarlson]

and he built a heat exchanger for the hot water heater. It is an electric water heater and has two elements in it, on at top and one at bottom. The fittings are 3/4 inch pipe. He built a heat exchanger out of 3 inch steel pipe with a center tube of 1 inch pipe that goes in one END of the 3 inch pipe and comes out the other END. This inner pipe carries his hot boiler water mix. The 3 inch pipe has a tee on either end that connects to the water heater fittings and lets the water from water heater go in the side of the large pipe at the base and circulate around the 1 inch heated pipe inside and then exit near the top of the big pipe through the tee and return to hot water heater. it thermosyphons all the time. He heats his entire house and shop/garage with wood cut from his back yard(which is about 15 acres). I am trying to get him off the grid with wind because it is ALWAYS windy there.

[MissileStick]

I sure hope he's insulated that pipe!

I wonder if he would consider a pre-heater tank, like in this BuildItSolar project. The water that's entering the hot water heater is pre-heated to prevent a drop in tank temperature. It sounds like his system stops standby losses, but I can see a situation where hot water is demanded but there's no water is flowing from the boiler, or even where the thermosiphon works in reverse! That never happens, right? Or he has a check valve?

[JasonG]

While I dont have figures, I keep the stove pilot off in my RV to save propane. Matches are cheap/free and the gas seems to last longer. It also reduces the heat in the Rv. Small places are more sensitive to changes.

[MissileStick]

Originally Posted by JasonG

Matches are cheap/free and the gas seems to last longer.

I don't even use matches -- a stick lighter (like the ones you use to light barbecues) works well after the fuel runs out. The spark lights the burner.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by MissileStick

I don't even use matches -- a stick lighter (like the ones you use to light barbecues) works well after the fuel runs out. The spark lights the burner.

While this is true, you can also get the spark ignitor button from many grills for a few dollars new, drill a hole next to your oven knob, and mount it, then run wires to all of your burners from it. Turn on gas, push button, fire.

[probsolver]

Yes, I have found this to be true myself. If all of the heat that was escaping up and out the 3" flue(vent) is captured and the top heavily insulated (which couldn't be done previous due to the exhaust vent), you can slowly heat water overnight to where cold must be added for showers!
I am so glad to find that others have made this discovery too!!!

You can read the article I wrote about my own experiences with thishere.

I would also encourage readers to kick back to my home page where you can access all of my other articles on topics ranging from alternative energy, recycling, gardening, and low income community beautification.
Don't give up spreading the word on this. It is worth it!