Hot Water Heat

[Pistol]

Decided to eliminate the huge expense of heating my aquarium with electricity, so I installed a hot water loop through a coil of 1/2" superpex submerged in my sump, I am using my apex to turn the recirculation pump on and off.
I used the inside of a drum to make the coil and soaked it in hot water for awile then cooled it so it would keep the shape.
[URL=http://s1139.photobucket.com/user/Cal_stir/media/P1070265.jpg.html] [/URL]
I am using a Grundfos pump that draws 85 watts.
[URL=http://s1139.photobucket.com/user/Cal_stir/media/P1070266.jpg.html] [/URL]
This is the coil in the sump, might be overkill but I can control how much water is flowing through it.
[URL=http://s1139.photobucket.com/user/Cal_stir/media/P1070267.jpg.html] [/URL]
This is a screen shot of the graph of my EB8 that the heaters were plugged into, made the switch just before noon.
[URL=http://s1139.photobucket.com/user/Cal_stir/media/Apexscreenshot-2.png.html] [/URL]
Should shave about $18 a month off my hydro bill now and even more in the winter as we let the house get pretty cool.

 

[TORX]

Awesome idea. Thought about different ways to heat my tank as well, but nothing ever came of it.

My only question is...what are you buying on Aliexpress to 'make it last long...' or at least that is all I can make out on the tab list lol.

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[Sewerat]

If I could figure out how to use the corn stove to heat the water would be my best option. Water tank is electric anyways.


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[Pistol]

If I could figure out how to use the corn stove to heat the water would be my best option. Water tank is electric anyways.


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Ya, that's a toughy, an electric hot water heater would prob be a little more efficient than the electric heaters we use.

 

[Pistol]

Awesome idea. Thought about different ways to heat my tank as well, but nothing ever came of it.

My only question is...what are you buying on Aliexpress to 'make it last long...' or at least that is all I can make out on the tab list lol.

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Nothing from aliexpress, must be tapatalk.

 

[TORX]

Nothing from aliexpress, must be tapatalk.

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[Pistol]

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Oh that, that was a highjacker when I logged on to photo bucket, they are getting pretty aggressive with the advertising. the screen shot shows how small the electricity consumption is with the recirc pump.

 

[TORX]

Lol

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[curiousphil]

Very cool idea, especially since we recently had a new "on demand" gas hot water heater/boiler combo unit installed...

 

[Neopimp]

nicely done

 

[reefgeek]

Makes me wish my sump was closer to the hot water heater. You will have to let us know what kind of electricity drop vs gas consumption increase you see.

 

[Pistol]

Update!
I had to change the circulating pump for the hot water because the cast one was rusting and discoloring the water, so I installed this one from homedepot.
http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/...atchallpartial&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&s=true
Unfortunately it only comes as a kit so I got a bunch of stuff I didn't need, also I removed the timer and wired it direct with a power cord and plugged it into my Apex.
The coil is over sized for my system which is about 200 gals total, which is located in the basement where it is relatively cool, the coil could have probably been half the size.
My current average went from 4.8 amps with heaters to .01 amps with the pump, there was no appreciable change in our gas bill but our hydro bill was @ $40 lower than the same period last year and the only thing different is the elimination of the electric heaters.
The total cost to build was under $300 and could have been less if I sourced the parts better but still it should pay for itself in less than a year. Wife is really happy to get a hydro bill under $200 and I am really pleased with the performance, I have one electric heater as backup set to turn on 1 degree below my normal setpoint but it has not turned on even once.
All in all I am very happy and wish I had done this a lot sooner.

 

[Kyle1970]

Great build. I'm going to reread the entire post in hopes that I can as well work out a system.
Nicely done.

 

[sunnykita]

I really like this idea! my hot water heater will be just the other side of the wall from the sump when the 150 is up and running - brilliant !

 

[TORX]

I was actually thinking about this a few days go and meant to ask about an update. I would love to do this and my sump is in the same room as my water heater. Maybe a project for the new year.

I definitely would like to know more about how it is connected to your hot water heater.

 

[Pistol]

I was actually thinking about this a few days go and meant to ask about an update. I would love to do this and my sump is in the same room as my water heater. Maybe a project for the new year.

I definitely would like to know more about how it is connected to your hot water heater.

I will take some pics later and post them here.

 

[Pistol]

I teed into the hot out of the water heater with an isolation valve, which also controls the flow, to feed the loop.

For the return I remove the drain valve and installed a nipple and a tee and re installed the drain valve. The loop returns to the pump inlet, through an isolation valve then a check valve to the tee on the drain valve.

 

[TORX]

That is what I was looking for. This is a great project for sure and gas is so much cheaper then hydro. T off the out and return in the drain pipe, easily done

 

[sunnykita]

I like this idea very much, I'd still have to have someone do it for me, but I think it's brilliant !

 

[Boga]

Awesome build and thanks for sharing it with us. I put it on my endless to do list.

I think that it could also be a good heat backup for periods when the hydro goes down. The large volume of hot water may help for a while. All considering that you have the pump and the controller on a UPS. And of course you don't use the water for showers.

You mentioned that "current average went from 4.8 amps with heaters to .01 amps with the pump". Is there a typo? 0.01 amps seems very low for an 85W pump.