Eduard Popescu

I also found this 6 bar (87 psi) water heater at 68$, corrosion protected. The diameter seems a bit too small 11cm (4.33 in)...

Daren Baldwin wrote:

Eduard Popescu wrote:

Glenn Herbert wrote:A 1/2" pipe reaching to the attic will have little gravity flow capacity. The bigger this pipe is, the less friction it will have and the easier it will flow.

I note a float valve on the cold water supply. Would this system be pressurized? I'm not sure what the need is for a float valve in a pressurized, potentially constantly flowing system - it wouldn't deplete or overflow. Is the attic tank unpressurized, with just gravity flow to faucets?

Yes, it is an unpressurized system, gravity flow. The tank I'm planning to fit is a IBC insulated 1000 liters capacity. I was thinking about 1/2" pipe to heat the water slowly, since the heat exchanger shares the heat with the thermal mass. Even if the water heats in a week, that will not be a problem.

1 liter of water = 1kg = 2.2lb.   So you are going to put a literal ton of water in your attic... is your house made of steel? That's a lot of weight for ceiling joists to hold.

No, my house was built in 1872 from stone, no cement nothing. 60 cm (23.6") thick walls, only stone and some clay.

Glenn Herbert wrote:A 1/2" pipe reaching to the attic will have little gravity flow capacity. The bigger this pipe is, the less friction it will have and the easier it will flow.

I note a float valve on the cold water supply. Would this system be pressurized? I'm not sure what the need is for a float valve in a pressurized, potentially constantly flowing system - it wouldn't deplete or overflow. Is the attic tank unpressurized, with just gravity flow to faucets?

Yes, it is an unpressurized system, gravity flow. The tank I'm planning to fit is a IBC insulated 1000 liters capacity. I was thinking about 1/2" pipe to heat the water slowly, since the heat exchanger shares the heat with the thermal mass. Even if the water heats in a week, that will not be a problem.

Hi,

I have just started researching this.
My project will include some welding and the hot water tank in the attic, also some 1/2 insulated copper pipe (air conditioning type).
The idea is: inside the bench, just at the stove connection, an heat exchanger should be built using stainless steel chimney pipes with the exterior pipe diameter ~ 4-6 cm higher than the inner pipe for at least 50 cm long.
There also should be a 3-4 degrees drop for the steam condensation to be collected in an airtight container. Also, the slope will help any air in the heat exchanger to go up to the water tank.

Can something go wrong with this?