do you return the hot water to the bottom of you hot water heater ( trough the emergency drain/). can you take closer pics of the pump and ball valve?I have used exchangers from pentair in commercial applications, and they're great but pricey. My current home tank uses a plain titanium tube and shell Hx, and it is extremely efficient. Pre-covid was the time to buy, titanium prices have basically doubled unfortunately. There are options for PVC heat exchangers as well if you're overly concerned about leaching, which I've never experienced, but they are quite expensive and usually made to order. The set up is really simple, heating water in/out counter current to exhibit water. I use a 25w taco recirculating pump with a 1w electronic ball valve that circulates the heating water. Heating water comes out my nearest hot water line, and returns to the hot water intake on my water heater. I use an apex, with an additional temperature controller plugged into that for redundancy reasons, as it heats the water pretty quickly. I have 450 gallons or so in my basement, and the temp never fluctuates more than .5 degrees throughout the day, and usually runs for 10 minutes every couple hours. At 26w, it's pennies on the dollar compared to conventional heaters.
This is very similar to my setup minus the electronic ball valve. Very clean. I use a Gundfos alpha2 punp at 5-6 watts.I have used exchangers from pentair in commercial applications, and they're great but pricey. My current home tank uses a plain titanium tube and shell Hx, and it is extremely efficient. Pre-covid was the time to buy, titanium prices have basically doubled unfortunately. There are options for PVC heat exchangers as well if you're overly concerned about leaching, which I've never experienced, but they are quite expensive and usually made to order. The set up is really simple, heating water in/out counter current to exhibit water. I use a 25w taco recirculating pump with a 1w electronic ball valve that circulates the heating water. Heating water comes out my nearest hot water line, and returns to the hot water intake on my water heater. I use an apex, with an additional temperature controller plugged into that for redundancy reasons, as it heats the water pretty quickly. I have 450 gallons or so in my basement, and the temp never fluctuates more than .5 degrees throughout the day, and usually runs for 10 minutes every couple hours. At 26w, it's pennies on the dollar compared to conventional heaters.
