Save more than 50% on your water heating bill with copper!

Save more than 50% on your water heating bill with copper!

According to the European Commission buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO 2 emissions in the EU. Renovation and improved energy efficiency have the potential to lead to significant energy savings, which could reduce the EU’s total energy consumption by 5-6% and lower CO 2 emissions by about 5%.

If we look at the evolution of residential energy demands, we see that the energy required for heating has fallen dramatically, and as a result the energy needed to produce hot water represents an ever-larger share of total household energy use at home. Considering that the clear majority of that energy is wasted by flowing down the drain, harvesting heat from our showers could be a simple way to save energy and money.

Figure 1: Heat recovery from shower water before and after © Joulia

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A drain heat exchanger could effectively recapture that energy, reducing our energy consumption in a costeffective manner. New models of heat exchangers for waste heat recovery for residential buildings are able to recover more than 50% of the waste heat from shower drains and offering a good return on investment.

How it works?

The drain heat recovery system has no moving parts and requires no electricity to operate. A specifically engineered copper piping configuration transfers heat energy from the waste hot shower water to the incoming fresh water supply warming it from around 10 up to 25°C. When the cold water arrives at the mixing valve, it is much warmer, and therefore substantially less hot water is required from the water heater or solar array.

In case of storage-type systems recaptured heat energy from the shower might be used to preheat the tank water.

6 | SAVE ENERGY WITH COPPER

Figure 2: Heat recovery from shower water operational scheme © Wagner Solar

Copper is the best heat conductor.

iZi © Zypho

Thanks to its thermal conductivity, copper is the ideal material for the manufacture of all types of heat exchangers. Copper heat exchangers are easily fabricated and have excellent corrosion resistance. There are many different ways copper is used in heating and cooling applications. Copper is used as a bulk material to radiate heat, as a pipe to transfer refrigerants, as a surface to collect the suns energy. It can be used as a heat pipe or part of a heat pump, as a fin material to transfer energy to and from the air or as a conductor of heat from one material to another. Simple or complex geometries can easily be made to maximize the cost efficiency of the transfer of energy.

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Product information and manufacturers

ReQup®-Plus © Gaïa Green

zypho.eujoulia.com

dutchsolarsystems.com

meanderhr.comgaiagreen.net

Wagner Solar

wagner-solar.com

European Association for wastewater recovery: ehtec.wixsite.com/eurowwhr

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