IE61037B1 - Improvements in or relating to showers - Google Patents
Improvements in or relating to showersInfo
- Publication number
- IE61037B1 IE61037B1 IE6588A IE6588A IE61037B1 IE 61037 B1 IE61037 B1 IE 61037B1 IE 6588 A IE6588 A IE 6588A IE 6588 A IE6588 A IE 6588A IE 61037 B1 IE61037 B1 IE 61037B1
- Authority
- IE
- Ireland
- Prior art keywords
- water
- cold water
- installation according
- heat
- shower installation
- Prior art date
Links
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Substances O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims abstract description 96
- 238000009434 installation Methods 0.000 claims description 15
- 238000010438 heat treatment Methods 0.000 claims description 10
- 239000008236 heating water Substances 0.000 description 3
- 238000005485 electric heating Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000005611 electricity Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000007921 spray Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000009286 beneficial effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000007654 immersion Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000009428 plumbing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000004449 solid propellant Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002699 waste material Substances 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
- F24D—DOMESTIC- OR SPACE-HEATING SYSTEMS, e.g. CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEMS; DOMESTIC HOT-WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; ELEMENTS OR COMPONENTS THEREFOR
- F24D17/00—Domestic hot-water supply systems
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
- F24D—DOMESTIC- OR SPACE-HEATING SYSTEMS, e.g. CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEMS; DOMESTIC HOT-WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; ELEMENTS OR COMPONENTS THEREFOR
- F24D17/00—Domestic hot-water supply systems
- F24D17/0089—Additional heating means, e.g. electric heated buffer tanks or electric continuous flow heaters, located close to the consumer, e.g. directly before the water taps in bathrooms, in domestic hot water lines
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Thermal Sciences (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Domestic Hot-Water Supply Systems And Details Of Heating Systems (AREA)
- Heat-Pump Type And Storage Water Heaters (AREA)
- Instantaneous Water Boilers, Portable Hot-Water Supply Apparatuses, And Control Of Portable Hot-Water Supply Apparatuses (AREA)
Abstract
The water supplied to an instantaneous electric water heater 7 is preheated by mixing cold water with hot water from a cylinder 1. The pre-heat apparatus 8 comprises a mixing valve 16 having separate inlets connected via respective non-return valves 19,20 to supplies of hot and cold water and an outlet connected via an on/ off solenoid valve 21 to a supply pipe 12 to the electric water heater 7. The pre-heat apparatus 8 further includes a cold water branch pipe 23 by-passing the mixing valve 16 and connected via an on/off solenoid valve 24 to the supply pipe 12. The on/off solenoid valves 21,24 are selectively operable by switching means for controlling flow through either the mixing valve 16 or the branch pipe 23 as required. <IMAGE>
Description
This invention concerns improvements in or relating to showers and in particular to a shower >
installation having an instantaneous electric water heater for heating a cold water supply to provide a source of hot water.
Such heaters provide a source of hot water on demand by heating cold water flowing continuously through a heat exchanger containing one or more electric heating elements and the final temperature of the hot water is controlled by adjusting the flow rate of the supply for any given power input to the heat exchanger,.,
A disadvantage of this type of heater is that using mains cold water the required final temperature of the hot water can often only he obtained at low flow rates even when using the maximum power input and this can lead to an unsatisfactory spray pattern*
It is an object of this present invention to provide a solution to the above disadvantage.
According to the present invention we provide a shower installation comprising an instantaneous electric water heater for heating a supply of cold water to provide a source of hot water» means for preheating the cold water supply to the water heater, and valve means for controlling the flow of cold water through either th© pre-heat means or a branch pipe bypassing the pre-heat means for supply to the water heater.
By the present invention t prs-heat means for the cold water supply to the water heater enables a higher flow rate to be used for given power input to the water heater to obtain the required final water temperature W or the pre-heat means may be by-passed for direct supply of the cold water to the water heater.
-3Any suitable pre-heat means may be used but where there is a source of hot water available, for example in a domestic hot water system having a hot water storage cylinder, the pre-heat means conveniently comprises a mixing valve for mixing the cold water'with hot water from the storage cylinder.
The mixing valve may comprise a non-compensating blender unit or a thermostatic control valve and is preferably pre-set to raise the cold water temperature to a predetermined temperature.
The mixing valve and electric water heater may he combined in a single unit but more preferably they are separate from one another and connected by a single supply pipe, In this way the amount of pipework is reduced and the mixing valve can be located close to the storage cylinder- In addition, an existing shower using an instantaneous electric water heater can be modified by the addition of pre-heat means according to the invention.
Advantageously, the valve means comprises separate on/off valves for each of the pre-heat means and the cold water by-pass. Preferably, the on/off valves are solenoid valves controlled by switch meansFor some applications, for example in an unpressurised hot water system, a pump may be provided, between the pre-heat means and the water heater to boost the pressure of the water delivered to the water heater.
One embodiment of the Invention will now be described in more detail by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawing in which the single figure shews the installation of a shower according to the present invention in a vented domestic hot water system.
-40., Referring to the accompanying drawing, a shower according to the present invention is shown installed in a vented domestic hot water system including a hot water storage cylinder 1 having a thermostatically controlled electric immersion heater (not shown) for ?
heating water in the cylinder 1 to e pre-set temperature, typically 65°Ci
The cylinder 1 has an inlet at the lower end connected by a pipe 2 to a cold water feed tank 3 jq connected to the mains cold water' supply by a ball float valve 4 for controlling the water level in the feed tank 3«
In use, hot water is drawn off from the cylinder 1 via a pipe 5 connected to an, outlet at the upper end of
X5 the cylinder 1 and is replaced by cold water from the feed tank 3« Expansion of water in the. cylinder 1 is accommodated by a vent pipe 6 extending from the pipe 5 and terminating above the feed tank 3The shower includes an instantaneous electric ' water heater 7 and apparatus 8 for prfe-heati‘ng the cold water supply to the heater 7»
The heater 7 comprises a.casing 9 housing a heat exchanger 1© having an’ inlet connected through a flow control valve 11 to a pipe 12 from the pre-heat apparatss 8 and as outlet connected to a shower head 13 by a flexible^pipg!_14.
The heat exchanger 10 contains two 4.2 kilowatt electric heating elements (not shown) for heating water delivered from the pre-heat apparatus S and the casing 9 mounts respective manually operable control knobs (not shewn) fox selecting a power input to the heat exchanger of 0 kilowatts, 4-2 kilowatts or
8.4 kilowatts and for adjusting the flow control V
-501 valve 11 to provide the required flow rate through the i heat exchanger 10 to obtain the desired final water temperature for the selected power input*
The pre-heat apparatus 8 comprises a casing ISOS housing a mixing valve 16 having separate inlets connected to hot and cold water supply pip®s 17 and 18 respectively through respective non-return valves 19 »20 and an outlet connected to the pips 12 through a®, on/off solenoid valve 21 ‘for controlling -flow of water through the mixing valve 16 and a pump 22 for boosting the pressure of water delivered to the heater 7»
The mixing valve 16 which may be a non-compensating blender unit or a thermostatic control valve is pre-set on installation to mix the hot and cold water in the relative proportions regulred to heat the cold water to any desired temperature# for example 25°C as compared with a typical mains cold watertemper a tore of IS^C.
In addition# the pre-heat apparatus 8 includes a branch pipe 23 by-passing the mixing valve 16 between the cold water inlet at one end and the outlet at the other end where the branch pipe 23 is connected between •the solenoid valve 22 and the pump 22,,
For controlling flow of water through the branch pipe# there is provided an on/off solenoid valve 2Γ4 similar., to the valve 21 and both valves are controlled by a switch (not shown) mounted on the casing 9 of the electric heater which enables the user to actuate · selectively the valves to direct the flow of cold water through either the mixing valve 16 or the branch pipe 23- In this way. the user can decide whether or not. to use the hot water from the storage cylinder 1 to pre-heat the cold water supply to the electric heater 7»
-6In operation οχ the shower above-described# with a typical cold water temperature of 12°c# then using a power input to the heat exchanger of 8» 4 kilowatts and no pre-heat ox the cold water supply # a final water temperature of <0°C can be obtained with a flow rate of 4*4 litres per minute. However# by pre-heating the cold water supply to 25 C by mixing with hot water from the storage cylinder# the same final water temperature can be obtained with a flow rate ox 8 litres per minute.
As will now be appreciated the present invention enables an increase in the flow rate and hence an improved spray pattern to be obtained fox a given final water temperature using an instantaneous electric heater without increasing the power input simply by pre-heating the cold water supply.
This is particularly beneficial where a large volume of stored hot water is available at low cost# for example when using Economy ? electricity to heat the water in the storage cylinder.
Additionally# as the hot water is only used to pre-heat the cold wafer supply# the consumption of stored hot water is relatively low. Thus# in the above example# the increased flow rate obtained by preheating the cold water supply only consumes hot water at the rate of 2 litres per minute.
Accordingly by providing a large volume storage cylinder and heating by low cost electricity# high flow rate showers can be obtained using an Instaneous electric beater relatively economically.
The invention is not limited to the above embodiment# for example the heat exchanger could have · any combination of one or more heating .elements to provide any desired heat input.
701 The pre-heat apparatus may be combined with the , electric heater in a single unit but is preferably a separate unit having the appropriate fittings for ( connection to the hot and cold water supplies and to the instantaneous electric heater for plumbing in both as original equipment and as an addition to an existing shower.
The shower may be installed in a pressurised hot water system in which case the pump may be omitted and a flow regulator fitted to regulate the flow irrespective of supply pressure changes.
Additionally the hot water system may utilise any suitable means for heating water in the storage cylinder, for example gas, oil or solid fuel boilers.
Finally, although the invention has been particularly described with reference to the us© of stored hot water as the means for pre-heating the cold water supply, it will be appreciated that other preheat means may be used, for example waste or reject 20 heat or low cost recovered heat.
Claims (5)
1. A shower installation comprising an instantaneous electric water heater for heating a supply of cold water to provide a source of hot water,,, means for preheating the cold water supply to the water heater, and valve means for controlling the flow of cold water ' through either the pre-heat means or a branch pipe bypassing the pre-heat means for supply to the water heater,
2. A shower installation according to Claim 1 wherein the pre-heat means comprises a mixing valve having separate inlets for connection to the cold water supply and to a supply of hot water and a common outlet for connection to the electric water heater,
3. A shower installation according to Claim 2 wherein the mixing valve is a non-compensating blender unit, 4. 10. A shower installation according to any one of the
4. A shower installation according to Claim 2 wherein the mixing valve is a thermostatic control valve,., 5. A shower installation according to any one of Claims 2 to 4 wherein, the mixing valve is pre-set on installation. 6. A shower installation according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the valve means comprises separate on/off valves for each of the pre-heat means and the cold water by-pass 7. A shower installation according to Claim 6 wherein the on/off valves are solenoid valves controlled by switch means. 8» A shower installation according to any one of the preceding Claims including a pump positioned between the pre-heat means and the electric water heater. 9, A shower installation according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the electric water heater includes a heat exchanger having one or more heating -901 elements, a flow control valve for controlling the water flow rate through the heat exchanger and means for selecting the power input to the heat exchanger.
5. Preceding claims substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB8701278A GB2200439B (en) | 1987-01-21 | 1987-01-21 | Improvements in or relating to showers |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| IE880065L IE880065L (en) | 1988-07-21 |
| IE61037B1 true IE61037B1 (en) | 1994-09-07 |
Family
ID=10610987
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| IE6588A IE61037B1 (en) | 1987-01-21 | 1988-01-11 | Improvements in or relating to showers |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2200439B (en) |
| IE (1) | IE61037B1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (11)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB9104488D0 (en) * | 1991-03-04 | 1991-04-17 | Triton Plc | Improvements to instantaneous water heaters |
| GB9406925D0 (en) * | 1994-04-07 | 1994-06-01 | Wardtec Ltd | Auxiliary heater unit |
| GB9502673D0 (en) * | 1995-02-11 | 1995-03-29 | Benson Neville I | Combined shower |
| GB2321098A (en) * | 1997-01-14 | 1998-07-15 | Saxelby Roberts Eric | Shower using main and supplementary electric heaters |
| GB2345744B (en) * | 1999-01-12 | 2002-03-20 | Peter Frederick Wailing | A water supply system |
| GB0522307D0 (en) * | 2005-11-01 | 2005-12-07 | Zenex Technologies Ltd | A burner and heat exchanger combination, and a boiler including such a burner and heat exchanger combination |
| GB2509327B (en) * | 2012-12-28 | 2016-08-31 | Zenex Tech Ltd | A system and method for heating fluids, and an adaptor for use with a boiler |
| CA2887916C (en) * | 2015-03-25 | 2017-06-27 | Dominique Boivin | Water heating assembly for providing hot water in a reduced time to a point of use, and related kit, use and method |
| CN107062375A (en) * | 2017-03-23 | 2017-08-18 | 南宁远卓新能源科技有限公司 | Hot water supply system |
| CN110513866B (en) * | 2019-09-09 | 2020-11-10 | 山东龙普太阳能股份有限公司 | Energy-saving quick-heating water heater |
| NL2026436B1 (en) * | 2020-09-10 | 2022-05-09 | Eneco B V | Warm water supply arrangement |
Family Cites Families (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2052698B (en) * | 1979-03-21 | 1983-09-21 | Burns L | Domestic hot water supply |
| GB2048466A (en) * | 1979-04-13 | 1980-12-10 | Diffracto Ltd | Optically controlled plumbing apparatus |
| US4398308A (en) * | 1980-05-07 | 1983-08-16 | Berg Charles A | Energy conservation in shower bathing |
| GB8416073D0 (en) * | 1984-06-23 | 1984-07-25 | Triton Aquathertherm Ltd | Shower heaters |
-
1987
- 1987-01-21 GB GB8701278A patent/GB2200439B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
1988
- 1988-01-11 IE IE6588A patent/IE61037B1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB2200439B (en) | 1991-01-02 |
| GB2200439A (en) | 1988-08-03 |
| IE880065L (en) | 1988-07-21 |
| GB8701278D0 (en) | 1987-02-25 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MM4A | Patent lapsed |