>>992688
My house is heated with radiators that use hot water running through pipes. It uses a bigass furnace that isn't connected to the water heater though, I doubt that a water heater would have enough juice to do the same. Plus you need to regulate the temp and pump the water through.

>>992688
They make timed water circulators you can put on the hot out, and it will circulate hot water whenever you have the time set to come on throughout the day.

>>992688
Calculate the number of BTUs needed to heat a room

How many BTUs can your water heater put out

Not enough.

There are radiant floor systems specifically designed for this kind of workload.

Op here

I'm not looking to install a boiler or hydronic heating system,

Just wondering if I can run a small loop off my tank to some noticeable effect, without ruining anything.

>>992699
Yes, get the timed circulator. But the money you are going to spend on something that will not give any noticeable heat to room, just go buy a space heater.

Lol if you're bored this is worth a try. You just need a thermostat and zone valve so its not going crazy, as well as the recirc pump mentioned before me

>>992688
>apprentice plumber

k


I'd think you would already know that not only is this possible but the methods to do so are included in the installation instructions of most every water heater on the market. Not only that but without water flowing somehow you're not going to do much appreciable good.

As far as function goes, water pressure would push the water through to an open line. But what then, run it back into the water supply? Run it to a drain? If you want to run it back into the supply you would need a check valve at the end of the run. But since the pressure will be more or less identical, it may not flow, or at least flow well. You'd need some sort of pump. And you don't want the pump to exceed the pressure the water heater can take. And then you'd probably want to use something that would allow for the most heat dissipation, probably copper.

You'll probably need to turn the heat up on the heater to maximize the heat that is being transfered, and you'll be using a lot of gas(or electricity) to maintain heat in the heater.

So you're already looking at a good amount of cash.

If you pipe it to a drain you're going to lose money on water, and the heater will have to work harder to heat the cold water coming in, instead of the lukewarm water on the return. May be a negligible amount.

I'd say it's completely possible to pull this off.

>>992932
Now, as for practicality, I have somewhat anecdotal evidence.

I work in a refinery with about a dozen steam generators and boilers. The steam is very hot, and there are tie ins for the system everywhere. It's used for many things. One things the operators do though, in the winter, is find out ways to use it to keep themselves warm. They did something very similar to what you're asking about, they ran copper tubing to look like a car radiator without the fins, about a 100 feet of tubing, spanning 10 ft. They then enclosed it in a very small hooch, basically a makeshift room covered by thick cloth tarp and another layer of tyvek sheeting. It's a God send on a day thats 20 below, but it's noticeably hotter in the first 10ft of tubing. By the time it gets halfway through the tube it's cool enough to grab.

It manages to stay warm in there because there's no air flow and the space is probably less than 5x5x5 (can even stand up in it). Its at least 2-3 times hotter than what you can get out of a water heater, has a flow rate similar to that of a pressure washer, and never has a slump where new water needs to be heated. Not only that, but it only has to maintain heat in there, the flow on that line never stops from November til March. In a household setting it would have to heat areas back up because there's fluctuations when the system isn't running. Even on days above freezing it doesn't get much past 45.

It seems like a fun experiement, but not one I would delve into expecting great results. Best of luck to you.

>>992935
Is this makeshift heating loop documented in the P&IDs? Seems like quite a dangerous hack to stay warm. Dunno if the refinery steam is anything like oilfield steam, but if it is that will kill you very quickly if it bursts out of the line. I'm hoping you don't work for the same company I do.

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>>992688

>>992945
It wouldn't be on any p&ids. There are many steam lines that have bursts(heat traces for example), but the ones for these types of hook ups are regulated, it's common for hoses to be hooked up to them and held by hand for cleaning. I don't work for the same company you do, we're a 3rd party group and we don't do oil fields. Refineries, chemical, pharmaceutical, waste disposal, water treatment, but no oil fields.

>>992945
>>993143
Also, it's only 50 pound steam, 150-1200 only leaves their lines unintentionally. And it's ran outside the hooch underneath a piperack where no one could possibly get to. Safety is a big thing at this plant, there hasn't been a death here in almost 30 years, and they average 3 recordable a usually strained backs and twisted ankles.

Had to pay a plumber $2,800 to run a fucking drain pipe under my house today, motherfuckers can burn in hell

>>994610

You'd rather take a week off of work, grab a shovel, pull your permit, do it yourself?