Closed Loop Water Heater

A hot water loop uses a small pump to circulate hot water between a water heater and a distant bathroom or kitchen.

Closed loop water heater.

Closed loop solar heating system here s how a solar powered water heater works. This is an example of how to set up a tankless water heater as a heat source and for your domestic hot water. The water from the boiler to this heat exchanger flows 24 hours a day in a closed loop making the heat exchanger continuously active i e. Cooling or heating systems that use water can have one of two main types of systems for dissipating heat acquired by the liquid closed loop or open loop.

A closed water heater system means that the hot water cannot expand beyond the valves and mix with the municipal water. Actual layouts vary from job to job. Most new solar homes feature a variation of one kind or another. However doing so in a way that doesn t waste a lot of energy is a little trickier.

When the controller senses that the sun is shining and your tank needs a warm up it signals the pump to send water through the black collector panels. Closed loop solar water heater systems sometimes referred to as anti freeze or glycol systems include the heat collectors insulated piping a circulating pump an expansion tank a hot water storage tank a heat exchanger solar fluid usually a solution of water and nontoxic propylene glycol antifreeze a controller valves and gauges. Closed loop liquid phase hot water or glycol solution systems are an excellent choice for indirect process heating up to approximately 300f. A continuously operating pump is clearly wasteful.

The critical difference between these is the amount of exposure the water has to the air. The valves that are usually found in the closed systems are the check valve pressure reducing valve mixing valve backflow preventer and other. Closed loop and drainback solar water heaters drainback and closed loop systems provide freeze protection for year round operation in cold climates. The advantages of a continuously active heat exchanger loop are twofold.

Creating the loop is fairly easy. A special water heater tank incorporating a heat exchanger works in conjunction with one or more flat plate roof mounted collectors. Closed loop active antifreeze systems are the most versatile and failsafe of all the solar supplemental water heating systems. The heated water then flows into the storage tank before it s channeled into the heat exchanger.

Glycol or some equivalent antifreeze fluid fills the collector and associated routing pipes. This is only an example. Tankless water heater as a heat source with domestic hot water. Each has its advantage when part of a cooling or heating system.

This is called a closed loop heating system with domestic water. Overview of closed loop water system.