EcoDrain Cuts Water Heater Use by 40%

Posted by Big Gav in ecodrain, energy efficiency

Inhabitat has an article on recycling waste heat from hot water used in showers - The EcoDrain Cuts Water Heater Use by 40%.

A hot shower is relaxing, but is also a huge waste of energy: we heat our water with massive amounts of natural gas, oil or electricity, then transport the heated water to our tubs for a few seconds of sudsing, before washing it down the drain full of raw, wasted heat and energy! What if we could recapture this untapped source of wasted energy by transferring the heat from that shower waste-water to cold incoming water? The EcoDrain, a simple heat exchange unit, does just that, saving water heater use by up to 40%.

Showering is “likely your most energy-intensive daily household activity. Although hidden on your energy bill, heating water for showers represents a significant portion of the total.” The EcoDrain is a simple heat exchange unit with no moving parts that is “easy to install” and needs no maintenance. ...

“Hot waste fluids represent a massive and often untapped source of clean energy,” say the EcoDrain folks, and we couldn’t agree more. But building code hurdles seem to be slowing the pace of getting the EcoDrain out to the public.

1 comments

SP says 10:55 AM

Its one of those clever ideas thats obvious once you're told about it...

It should be mandatory in this country.

That wasted heat also represents wasted water as steam required back at the generator.