Hot Water Heat Recovery Air Conditioning

In hot water heat recovery air conditioning, a refrigerant-to-water heat exchanger is mounted near, on, or in the air conditioner's condensing unit.

Fresh water flows through this heat exchanger, then to the hot water heater.

The hot gas discharge line from the air conditioning compressor is also piped to this heat exchanger.

The hot gas releases heat to the water in the heat exchanger, and one result is that the water heater, if there is one, has do do less work to heat the water to the desired temperature, which reduces the power bill for the water heater.

Another result is that cooling the hot gas this way before it reaches the condensing coil makes the condensing coil more efficient, reducing the work the compressor has to do, and reduces the power bill for the air conditioner.

So you're reducing your power bill 2 ways.

One of the hot water heat recovery air conditioning installations I worked on was a 150 ton Trane centrifugal chiller.

The factory mounted the water heating heat exchanger above the condenser barrel, and water was piped to flow through it, then on to the building hot water heaters.

Another type of hot water heat recovery air conditioning installation was a small unit installed on top of a normal residential water heater.

This was basically an air conditioner with a water cooled condenser.

Water flowed through the air conditioner's condenser then into the water heater.

The air conditioner pulled in warm outside air, and discharged cooled air which could be ducted into the building.

While this unit was running and cooling, it was heating up the water flowing through it.

Another hot water type heat recovery air conditioning unit I've worked on is a swimming pool and jacousie water heater.

It runs similarly to the above unit, heating up the water in the pool or jacousie, pulling in warm outside air, and discharging cooled air that can be ducted into a building.

I've seen another type of hot water heat recovery air conditioning unit installed on small residential air conditioners and large commercial chillers.

As described in the first paragraph, a refrigerant-to-water heat exchanger is mounted near, on, or in the air conditioner's condensing unit.

Fresh water flows through this heat exchanger, then to the hot water heater.

The hot gas discharge line from the air conditioning compressor is also piped through this heat exchanger.

The hot gas releases heat to the water in the heat exchanger, heating up the water, and cooling down the hot gas, which makes both the water heater and the air conditioner more efficient.

I hope this page has given you some ideas on how you can reduce your power bills, and please, feel free to contact us with any specific HVAC questions you might have, including questions about air conditioning on Guam, and refrigeration on Guam.