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yankeesouth
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# Posted: 9 May 2012 14:48 - Edited by: yankeesouth
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Does anyone have any real world experience with a point of use water heater like the Ecotemp (L5 or L10)and expected realistic temperature rise? I am wondering how warm say 38-42 degree ground water would get in one of these units?
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MikeOnBike
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# Posted: 9 May 2012 17:34
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I have an L5. I don't have any empirical measurements but I do know that it will raise the water from ~60F to hotter than I can stand under which is probably over 100F. I think it easily lives up to its claims of 35F rise. That still only puts you at 80F or so.
http://www.eccotemp.com/eccotemp-l5-portable-tankless-water-heater/
Do you have any way to store some water above ground so it can get warmer before you use it. Maybe you have a pressure tank in your system that allows the water to get to cabin temperatures so that it can heat to above 80F?
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yankeesouth
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# Posted: 10 May 2012 10:03
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5 months a year it's not that cold but in the lat fall and early spring there is no way for me to pre-warm, so to speak, the water. I was just curious.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 10 May 2012 10:04
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Solar heater?
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razmichael
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# Posted: 10 May 2012 11:11
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In my situation I have not had an issue with the ecotemp (source has always been warm enough). When I use my much smaller Zodi portable heater I will always recirculate the water from/into a container until it gets to the temperature I want. At that point the heater can actually be turned off and the water used for a shower. This is the documented method for a cold source water. Depending on how you have (or plan) to plumb your ecotemp, you could always add a container and some valve controlled plumbing to allow you to preheat the water and then switch it back to the normal output. I can imagine a number of ways to do this depending on how your current setup is laid out. This was you would need to do an extra step during those couple of months when the source was too cold to get up to a decent temperature.
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Sustainusfarm
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# Posted: 10 May 2012 12:27
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what about two eco temps in tandem?? One could pre heat the other heat the water the rest of the way?? Just a thought...
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241comp
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# Posted: 10 May 2012 14:16
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My L5 easily heats 50-deg water to hot shower temps. It really depends on the flow rate, though. If you use a low flow shower head like I do (1.5gpm), it should work great. You can get shower heads that flow as low as 0.5gpm. The L5 should be able to heat even 35deg water to hot at that flow rate.
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yankeesouth
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# Posted: 10 May 2012 14:42
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Tandem.....Hmmmmmm.....never thought of that. Is there a cost effective way? Two heaters may defeat the economic argument.....but I like the idea. How does the whole recirculating thing work?
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razmichael
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# Posted: 10 May 2012 14:55
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Quoting: yankeesouth How does the whole recirculating thing work
Don't know what options you would have as it depends on your current configuration (plumbing, location of pump, pressure tank or not) and how comfortable you are adding a manual step or two into the process for the limited times you may need it. All you are looking for is some way to run the water through the heater more than once. Such as "manually filling up a hot water tank from the output of the heater and then using this pre heated water to feed again through the heater. You may be able to do this with just a couple of Y connectors with shut-offs and some extra hose.
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rayyy
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# Posted: 10 May 2012 17:19
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An eccotemp L5 can be throttled down by a low flow shower head or restricting the sink faucet keeping the water inside the heater longer.I have to keep my gas regulater knob at about 1/2,anything higher than that and it get's to hot.I don't think you will have a problem heating ice cold water up to a comfortable temp.
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