The Energy Efficiency of Hot Water Production by Gas Water Heaters with a Combustion Chamber Sealed with Respect to the Room

• Published in: Water (Basel) Vol. 6; no. 8; pp. 2394 - 2411
• Main Authors: Grzegorz Czerski, Andrzej Strugała
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 01-08-2014
• Subjects: energy efficiency; gas-fired water heaters; hot water production
• ISSN: 2073-4441
• DOI: 10.3390/w6082394

This paper presents investigative results of the energy efficiency of hot water production for sanitary uses by means of gas-fired water heaters with the combustion chamber sealed with respect to the room in single-family houses and multi-story buildings. Additionally, calculations were made of the influence of pre-heating the air for combustion in the chimney and air supply system on the energy efficiency of hot water production. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software was used for calculation of the heat exchange in this kind of system. The studies and calculations have shown that the use of gas water heaters with a combustion chamber sealed with respect to the room significantly increases the efficiency of hot water production when compared to traditional heaters. It has also been proven that the pre-heating of combustion air in concentric chimney and air supply ducts essentially improves the energy efficiency of gas appliances for hot water production.