Leejosepho
DIY scratch-pad engineer
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- 200 miles south of Little Rock
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What I have is a 5' X 6' area of electrically-heated bathroom floor, and I would like to draw heat from its underside to pre-warm the water going to my water heater. The core of the 2-1/2"-thick floor (with ceramic tile on top) is right around 100 degrees F, and it is definitely warm to the touch from below. My thought is to install a 3/4" or 1" copper "U" about 12" wide and 6' long as an insulated heat exchanger between two floor joists near the center of that floor area.
Assuming an occasional flow of less that 5 gpm with only one or two fixtures running, how much heat am I likely to add to cold well water? And, would it be okay to use aluminum strips to fasten the copper pipe to the wooden bottom of the floor?
Assuming an occasional flow of less that 5 gpm with only one or two fixtures running, how much heat am I likely to add to cold well water? And, would it be okay to use aluminum strips to fasten the copper pipe to the wooden bottom of the floor?