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Hot water from AC

2K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  beenthere 
#1 ·
I've never heard of this before.

Next to the 16 yr old condenser there's a metal box, 12" x 14" and about 3 or 4" deep. Its on the house.

I just learned its a 'hot water heater'. Personally I don't grasp why an AC would heat my hot water when I have a hot watertank.

Don't know if it's been working or not. It's not compatible with my new unit. He said a new water heater (for the AC) would be another $900 which I can't afford.

I've been around a lot of contractors and am surprised I never heard of this before. Are these hot water heaters very unusual or popular?
 
#15 ·
Its a desuperheater. As known as a heat recovery unit. They can save you a lot on your hot water bill in the summer. They are not a popular as they once were.

They are actually cheaper to use to heat or keep a swimming pool warm the natural gas is. Since all the heat is waste heat that you are paying to get rid of anyway.
 
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#19 ·
They usually had water lines ran from the water heater to it, and it has/had a circ in it that would run when the A/C ran. If the hot gas temp was above 120° the circ would run to heat the water in the water heater, provided the water heaters water temp was not above set temp.
 
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#18 ·
We use condensing units here to heat outdoor swimming pools in summer here ,, they are water cooled condensers instead of air cooled .Works very well ..... gotta run a/c in summer anyways why not put the energy to good use .. A mfg in montreal mfgs a unit that "dehumidfes/heats the pool water /removes humidity and even reheats the air "on indoor pools and they are very cost effective and work very well
 
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