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Claude

wrote:
I'm still thinking about heating water with 1/3 the usual energy using a Haier
5K Btu/h window AC ($84 at Wal-Mart.) The pipes connect to the condenser coil
at the top, so we could build a thin aquarium around it with no replumbing or
recharging and pump 1.5 gpm of 110 F water out through a $168 Doucette SB1-20
400 Btu/h-F plate heat exchanger with a 110 F thermostat and pump 60 F cold
water into the other side of the heat exchanger from a cold kitchen tap and
back into the hot tap, and dump some hot water from the hot tap into the sink
with a solenoid valve if the cold tap ever reaches say, 100 F, when/if the
tank water heater completely fills. Heating 50 gallons of 60 F water to 110
takes about 21K Btu, and the AC would make about 5000(1+1/3) = 6700 Btu/h,
so we might fill the tank in 3 hours, with no hot water use.

When I blocked the Haier AC condenser airflow to make the exit temp 110 F,
its cool air temp and power use (from a Kill-a-Watt) barely changed.

This could be more efficient than a typical "portable air conditioner" with
air hoses. Removing the condenser fan blade might also raise the COP.

Nick

How about putting a water heater behind the refrigerator using it's hot
coils.
Another thing, have an air duct from the fridge to outside. Suck in
(under thermostatic control) cool air from the outside for the fridge
and when it's really cold, for the ice box.

--
Linux is just a fancy name for Windows blocker.

Claude Hopper