Browse Forums Eco Living 1 Jan 20, 2010 11:11 pm We just had our ecosmart hotwater installed. But does anyone know why the cold water pipe connects up with the hot water pipe? Is this a new standard or something? http://users.tpg.com.au/srkh//pipes.JPG Steve p.s. the plumber said he forgot to include a valve in the quote, so to balance it up, he didnt connect up the electrical! Re: Where do all these pipes go on my solar hot water system? 2Jan 21, 2010 4:53 am Not sure from your pic how you mean "why the cold water pipe connects up with the hot water pipe?" However.... cold water goes in..... hot water comes out. Re: Where do all these pipes go on my solar hot water system? 3Jan 21, 2010 6:53 am I see. I added markings on each pipe. maybe this is easier to understand. http://users.tpg.com.au/srkh//WTwithmarkings.JPG Steve Re: Where do all these pipes go on my solar hot water system? 4Jan 21, 2010 9:32 am I would say it is a thermostatic bypass valve, it recirculates the water back into the cold supply if its not hot enough or it uses cold water to control the hot water temperature. It looks like a non-return valve on the left of the valve so its probably to control the hot water temp output. Andy Re: Where do all these pipes go on my solar hot water system? 5Jan 21, 2010 10:41 am This is what it is.... Expansion Control Valve (ECV) Also known as a Cold Water Relief Valve. Some water supplies in Australia have high saturation indexes. As described in Chapter 2, the saturation index indicates the tendency of water to form or deposit scale. Water with a high saturation index is referred to as scaling water, because calcium carbonate is deposited out of the water and forms a type of scale onto any hot metallic surface. In scaling water areas, it is possible the TPR valve fitted to the water heater can eventually become blocked with calcium carbonate deposits, as the scaling water passes through the hot valve body. If the TPR valve were to become totally blocked, the water heater cylinder would eventually distort due to expansion. To prevent this occurrence, every water heater installed in a scaling water area must have an expansion control valve (ECV) fitted on the cold supply to the water heater. The valve should be fitted after the non return valve and must be the last valve before the water heater. The pressure relief setting on the ECV is lower than the relief setting of the TPR valve, therefore pressure relief will occur through the ECV. As the water relieved is cold, the incidence of scale build up in the ECV is reduced dramatically. It follows that as the TPR valve is not relieving pressure, scale formation will not occur. The TPR valve must not be removed from the water heater as it performs a secondary safety function of relieving heat energy under high temperature conditions. Every water heater installed in Western Australia and South Australia must have an expansion control valve fitted to comply with the local plumbing regulations. Any other water heater supply with a saturation index greater than +0.4 needs to be fitted with an expansion control valve Re: Where do all these pipes go on my solar hot water system? 6Jan 22, 2010 9:55 am [quote="andy the pm"]This is what it is.... Thanks Andy, that was very comprehensive. I feel a lot better knowing its all okie dokie. I didnt realise I lived in a high saturation area (sydney) - but now I do. The heater had its electricity connected yesterday, and it works a treat! Re: Where do all these pipes go on my solar hot water system? 7Jan 28, 2010 12:57 pm Call me crazy but isn't that just the cold feed into the tempering valve, which mixes with the hot water to ensure 45-55 degree temperatures to your house? It's not often you see a hot and a cold pipe meeting each other Re: Where do all these pipes go on my solar hot water system? 8Jan 29, 2010 6:38 pm Top prize to gully. Tempering valve ensuring hot water does not reach higher than 50 degrees as per Australian standard 3500. It is actually a Heat Guard Ultra from RMC or commonly known as orange tops Regards Shane the sun master is the solar heating to "warm" the water in the tank the S26 is your hot water system which will heat the water (25 degrees?) so with both turned on you… 2 12484 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Thank you for the generous offer. I need to get the plumber out to give me an explanation. As mentioned I haven't seen any rain water discharge from pipes 1& 3. It… 7 10805 I want to build a decking to the drawn shape outlined in black. The problem is how close can I build to the gas hot water unit? Will I be able to build around it and be… 0 20220 |