Development of a Long-Life, Stand-Alone Residential Gas Water Heater. Final Report March 1985-August 1988

摘要

In the project, a new concept for achieving high efficiency and long life in residential water heating was demonstrated. A prototype gas water heater utilizing a plastic storage tank, two phase thermosyphon heat exchanger, soft-wired intermittent ignition and a high efficiency combustion system was designed, built and tested. Recovery and standby loss targets were essentially achieved in laboratory testing. Follow-on efforts aimed at limited redesign for production, field testing and full scale commercialization were initiated but not completed because of cost reduction issues and a decision by the manufacturing partner to withdraw support due to corporate redirection. The technology remains available from GRI for future use by manufacturers interested in commercializing a durable, high performance water heater.