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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
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General: Novel secondary loop systems

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthorCWatters
    • CommentTimeMay 31st 2008
     
    Secondary loops are designed to save water by continuously circulating the hot water round a loop so it's allways hot at the tap...no running the water down the drain while waiting for it to get hot. The downside is the energy lost in the pipes. Well now I've just been introduced to a new type of scondary loop system that offers the best of both worlds....

    Instead of the loop pump running continuously the pump is controlled by the user operating a pushbutton near the tap (or a PIR sensor or light switch) . The pump runs until a pipe stat near the tap says the hot water has reached there and then it switches off. You obviously have to wait but you don't waste water while waiting, nor is hot water continuously circulated.

    This version...
    http://www.chilipepperapp.com/
    ...can even be fitted to taps that don't have a return loop pipe! It sends the cold water that is in the hot pipe back up the pipe feeding the cold tap! That would be illegal in a mains pressure system but what an interesting idea.

    How it works with diagram...
    http://www.chilipepperapp.com/howit.htm

    It can also be X10 controlled if you are into that sort of thing..
    http://www.chilipepperapp.com/auto.htm
    •  
      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeJun 1st 2008
     
    Yep, why's it taken so long for someone to think of this? We have a DIY system all piped up, bronze pump installed, just waiting for landlord's electrician to wire it - needs one relay, no need for a proprietary system, easily knocked together.
    • CommentAuthormbartosik
    • CommentTimeJun 1st 2008
     
    This has been on my list for a while. I just need to save up enough plumbing jobs to make getting a plumber out worth it.
    Here are my stashed links on this subject:

    http://www.gothotwater.com/
    http://www.chilipepperapp.com/
    http://www.redytemp.com/
    • CommentAuthorchuckey
    • CommentTimeJun 1st 2008
     
    It would seem to me that returning, the not quiet hot water down the "cold" pipe will result in a slug of hot water in the cold pipe. So turning on a cold tap will result in the slug coming out with possibley scalding results. I think that using a coaxial arrangement of an inner 6mm silicone pipe returning the water to the hot water tank would be a nicer way of doing it. In fact if the return pipe was taken to the bottom of the tank you would get some thermo syphon action which if sufficient would make it "pumpless".
    Frank
    • CommentAuthorludite
    • CommentTimeJun 1st 2008
     
    Thanks for this thread. I'll be bookmarking it for when I am ready to tackle the plumbing.
    •  
      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeJun 1st 2008
     
    Posted By: chuckeythermo syphon action which if sufficient would make it "pumpless"
    i.e. it would trickle round all the time? the whole point is that circulation only happens in a short, fast, say 10sec burst, just enough to get hot water to the furthest short raw-off branch, then stops.

    As well as a pushbutton (or pushbuttons, close to kitchen, bathroom 1, bathroom 2 etc) to activate a relay to set the pump running, and a pipe temp sensor just downstream of the last draw-off, to deactivate the relay as soon as it reads 'hot', you also need a manual 'off' pushbutton, just in case there's no water coming through hot enough to trip the pipe sensor - otherwise the pump could run forever!
    • CommentAuthorCWatters
    • CommentTimeJun 1st 2008
     
    or a put it on a 30 second timer.

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