Shower heat recovery

I don't know much about them, but there are some shower heat recovery devices available overseas. They are basically a piece of copper drain pipe with a water heat exchanger built in.

Installation involves putting the special piece of pipe in directly below the shower then connecting the cold water pipe, plus the cold water pipe leading to the water heater, to this unit. It is claimed that this will lead to the heat being recovered from the water going down the drain and returned via the cold tap in the shower (therefore needing less "hot" water in the mix) and via warm water being sent to the water heater, thus saving electricity / gas for water heating.

Obviously it's not 100% efficient, you'll still get a hot water bill, but it would be a saving nonetheles.

Anyone know anything about these and if they are available in Australia? I'm just curious about it, whether or not I'd install one would depend on the economics etc.


Read the full thread at RenovateForum.com...