Apparatus for using cast-off heat to warm water from household water heater

Abstract

A retrofit heat transfer unit, including: a housing for the retrofit unit, including inlet and outlet ports for water and refrigerant; a water pump, in fluid communication with the water inlet port, the water pump adapted to pump water from a water source; a heat exchanger, in fluid communication with the water pump, the water outlet port, the refrigerant inlet port and the refrigerant outlet port; and a thermostat, configured to measure a temperature of the pumped water and activate the water pump when the water is below a predefined low temperature and cease to pump when water is above a predefined high temperature. The retrofit unit is also adapted to receive heated refrigerant fluid from an air conditioner and direct the refrigerant through the heat exchanger and direct the pumped water into the heat exchanger so that the refrigerant heats the water and the water cools the refrigerant.

Description

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a heat transfer apparatus and, more particularly, to an apparatus for transferring heat from an air conditioner unit to water from a water heater.[0002]A legacy air conditioner uses refrigerant to cool down a space. The refrigerant (e.g. Freon) cools to very low temperatures which is useful in cooling an indoor space. A fan blows air over Evaporator coils (coils which contain cool refrigerant) to cool the room. Another characteristic of the refrigerant used in air conditioners is that it absorbs heat from the air in the room and returns cooled air. The absorbed heat must be released though, and this is the job of the Condenser. Condenser coils are usually located outdoors and have a fan which blows air over the coils (which contain very hot refrigerant, often between 70° C. and 80° C.). The fan air cools the coils and refrigerant so that the refrigerant can be reused to cool the indoor space. In some systems...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]The innovative retrofit heat transfer system of the immediate innovation uses heat produced by an air conditioner compressor to heat the water in a (household) water heater. When refrigerant gas is compressed back into a liquid the line holding the liquid gets very hot (75° C.-85° C.). This heat must be released for the liquid to cool. The refrigerant runs through a coaxial coil heat-exchanger or a plate heat-exchanger in order to cool the refrigerant liquid, which then continues to travel through the condensation coils for continued working. When the air conditioner is active then refrigerant liquid flows through the heat exchanger while cool water is pumped from the water heater—by a water pump—through the heat exchanger, thereby bringing the cool water into contact with the hot refrigerant fluid line. The hot fluid line can have an average temperature of 80° C. The pu...

Problems solved by technology

The '833 application fails to disclose a domestic water heater-air conditioner arrangement.

A water heater, on the other hand, does not have an existing pump or heati...

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