Water Heating Question

[coostv]

I would like to add heated water to my shops water supply. I can do without, but wet sanding cars with cold water sucks. I have been wondering if I could use a plate exchanger without using a storage tank? Would I be able to have all the hot water I wanted without a tank to store it in? Would it at least be warm water at the tap?

Would this be enough for my purposes? Link to small 10 plate.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

 

[ericjeeper]

This will work

I would like to add heated water to my shops water supply. I can do without, but wet sanding cars with cold water sucks. I have been wondering if I could use a plate exchanger without using a storage tank? Would I be able to have all the hot water I wanted without a tank to store it in? Would it at least be warm water at the tap?

Would this be enough for my purposes? Link to small 10 plate.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Providing you have some sort of expansion tank in your current cold water setup.

 

[PA Plumber]

This is out of my realm of expertise (here's the "but") but, along with the expansion tank, would there be a T & P valve (temperature and pressure safety blow off) in this part of the system?

 

[coostv]

Providing you have some sort of expansion tank in your current cold water setup.

This is out of my realm of expertise (here's the "but") but, along with the expansion tank, would there be a T & P valve (temperature and pressure safety blow off) in this part of the system?

Exactly why I put this out there before doing it. I will need both items from what I can find. I was thinking I would have to be concerned about having a T&P valve, but if I can incorporate both of these I think it will work and be safe. I will continue my search and keep this thread updated with my findings/results should I go ahead and do it.

It would look similar to this minus water heater plus heat exchanger. I would then need to fit a T&P valve in somehow. I would surmise this would need to be installed between the exchanger and the expansion tank?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[PA Plumber]

Exactly why I put this out there before doing it. I will need both items from what I can find. I was thinking I would have to be concerned about having a T&P valve, but if I can incorporate both of these I think it will work and be safe. I will continue my search and keep this thread updated with my findings/results should I go ahead and do it.

Thanks,
Chris

Another thought, if you do go ahead with this, the expansion tank pressure should be set at whatever the incoming pressure is on the cold water supply. Most of them have max operating temps listed on the tank and max pressure is usually 150 psi. Try to keep your inlet pressure 75 psi or lower. I can go into more detail if you need it.

 

[PA Plumber]

Exactly why I put this out there before doing it. I will need both items from what I can find. I was thinking I would have to be concerned about having a T&P valve, but if I can incorporate both of these I think it will work and be safe. I will continue my search and keep this thread updated with my findings/results should I go ahead and do it.

It would look similar to this minus water heater plus heat exchanger. I would then need to fit a T&P valve in somehow. I would surmise this would need to be installed between the exchanger and the expansion tank?

Thanks,
Chris

In the illustration, the cold water will be entering the water heater on the left?
For safety reasons, the T&P should be piped 2" to 4" from the floor.

 

[drmiller100]

you can do all that, but you are still going to have problems.

lets say you use lots of water. then your water is going to be not very warm at all.

lets say some days it is really cold outside, and you use no water. your water is going to get really hot, and flash to steam and possibly burn someone when you turn the tap on.

why not keep it KISS, and put a pot on top of the stove???

another thought is Coleman makes an instant propane hot water heater. i have one somewhere, and it works pretty well.

 

[dustytools]

What about one of those instant hot water devices that mount under your sink. The one in our shop at work seems to work really good.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

What about a DHW tank, with coil built-in, with a single electric element for backup, like the ones built for solar systems?

 

[November Wolf]

A guy I work with has a 30 plate exchanger installed on his 40 gallon water heater and he says he never runs out of hot water with a family of 5. He said it is like instant hot water.

You can put a mixing valve in to regulate the temp.