I wanted to share this example of how talking to people about what you are up to and sharing ideas can help make a difference. I was on the phone with someone at work (discussing a work matter of course) and it came up that both of us were involved with various green retrofit renovation projects in our respective houses. We shared what we were up to and it came out that he had taken advantage of the Sustainable Ottawa Solar Hot Water heating project. While we did not go with solar hot water in the end, it was good to hear someone else's experience. We then discovered that both of us had installed drain heat recovery units (the big drain pipe in the second photo wrapped in copper coil). During our conversation, he told me that the one thing that he wish he had done was insulate the drain pipes on route to the drain heat recovery unit to improve its efficiency. He hadn't been able to because of timing of installation as the walls got closed up too soon. Well, after this comment was made I called our contractor and if we did it that weekend, we had time to insulate the pipes. Now the first photo is from a little while ago as now the walls are closed up but I still wanted to share this story. By wrapping the pipes with insulation, the efficiency of the system (where the waste heat from the shower is reused to pre-heat new hot water) would be improved. Thanks Dave.
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Here is a follow-up email that I got: I should have mentioned that, if you want to insulate your plumbing stack for the drainwater heat recovery apparatus, Boone Plumbing sells the foam pipe insulation (similar to that for 0.5" & 0.75" copper water supply) for 3.5" copper pipe which fits around 3" ABS. They might even have one that fits around the apparatus itself. But there much more expensive than the sill plate insulation and probably not quite as effective. Of course, I'm sure some might find the pink pretty too!" Thanks again!
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