Yes you are right about the alternatives to a third pipe - ours is insulated below the floor actually in the ground below the building plus it is insulated.
We built an extremely energy efficient house that does take advantage of the solar gain in the winter with its placement of windows and materials used. By having overhangs above the windows we don't get sun intrusion in the summer and that makes the interior much more comfortable in the summer and avoids large cooling apparatus as well.
You might be interested in our structure based on your links you provided.
Ray
ray wrote:
> When we built our house we installed a hot water return
> line back to the hot water tank and added a pump with a
> timer on it. The return line comes from our furthest bathroom
> (about 85' away). When the timer turns on the pump it draws
> the now cooled hot water from the furthest bathroom and puts
> it back into the hot water tank and in doing that it draws the
> > hottest water from the tank and delivers it to the back bathroom.
Hi Ray;
There are ways to get faster hot water that are simpler,
and far more energy efficient (in others words cost less to
operate). One is to simply have a unique water heater for
that bathroom. Standard water heaters do not cost as
much as the extra insulated hot water lines, the pump, the
timer, the electricity to run the pump, and especially the
ongoing heat loss from 170ft of hot water lines (more
surface area than a large water heater (more like two)
and not nearly as well insulated) and even the hidden
added cost to your air conditionings, by having to
counter the heating the house by that huge surface area
of always hot, hot water line during the cooling seasons.
Or, if you are not running the line through the conditioned
space of your home, then the heat loss is even greater, and
does not help heat your home in Winter. All together, over
time, that comes to more than the cost of a second heater.
The other simple strategy is a little harder to wrap
your mind around, at first, but it works quite well. It is
to have a tiny little pump under the furthest sink which,
either operated by a timer, or preferably a thermostat,
moves a little of the tepid water from that furthest point
in the hot line, over to just before the sink's cold faucet
in the cold water line. Since we usually want a mix of
hot and cold in a bathroom sink, this means that the
cold water will actually be pleasantly warm, and much,
if not most of the time, you don't even need to turn on
the hot. But, if you do, it will take a lot less of it, mixed
with the warm instead of cold water. And, hot water
has also been moved up in the line, for faster hot water
at the tub or shower, and any other fixtures along the
way. These little gadgets are easy to install, and are
relatively inexpensive, compared to other hot water
circulator strategies, or a second heater.
-Laren Corie-
Natural Solar Building Design and
Solar Heating/Natural Cooling/Energy
Efficiency Consultation Since 1975
www.ThermalAttic.com (many new
photos and pages, coming soon)
Read my Solar house design articles in:
-Energy Self-Sufficiency Newsletter-
http://www.dongrays.com/essn/
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