Spa/bath heater

[Greg McFarlane]

I am finding that something I first thought would be dead easy may be
impossible in Australia.

In Japan, about 10 million houses have a bath where the water can be
kept hot for hours while everyone in the household takes turns. These
bath heaters are usually simple gas heaters attached to the bath with
one inlet and one outlet and where the water is flows through by
convection only - no pumps, no noise. So you can relax in the bath
for hours with the water at 43 degrees C (or whatever takes your
fancy) and without noisy and annoying jets, bubbles and "massagers".

But can I find anything like it in Australia? Not so far. All that
the spa companies can come up with are hot pumps with big motors (at
least 0.5 horse power) and which are limited to 38 degrees.

So, I came up with the idea of getting a dishwasher or washing machine
pump (something that can handle hot water and pushes about 2-3 litres
per minute) and an immersion element heater, hooking them up to a
controller and attaching them to a normal spa bath.

But, I realise that there are all sorts of safety issues involved with
electricity and water, so I don't really want to do this myself. Has
anyone had any experience with such things? Or know of a plumber or
electrician that could do it, in Sydney?

Greg

 

[Rheilly Phoull]

"Greg McFarlane" <gregm@iname.com> wrote in message
news:3F129D25.70804@iname.com...

I am finding that something I first thought would be dead easy may be
impossible in Australia.

In Japan, about 10 million houses have a bath where the water can be
kept hot for hours while everyone in the household takes turns. These
bath heaters are usually simple gas heaters attached to the bath with
one inlet and one outlet and where the water is flows through by
convection only - no pumps, no noise. So you can relax in the bath
for hours with the water at 43 degrees C (or whatever takes your
fancy) and without noisy and annoying jets, bubbles and "massagers".

But can I find anything like it in Australia? Not so far. All that
the spa companies can come up with are hot pumps with big motors (at
least 0.5 horse power) and which are limited to 38 degrees.

So, I came up with the idea of getting a dishwasher or washing machine
pump (something that can handle hot water and pushes about 2-3 litres
per minute) and an immersion element heater, hooking them up to a
controller and attaching them to a normal spa bath.

But, I realise that there are all sorts of safety issues involved with
electricity and water, so I don't really want to do this myself. Has
anyone had any experience with such things? Or know of a plumber or
electrician that could do it, in Sydney?

Greg

I don't know what money you want to spend but how about one of the the

latest remote control gas heaters hooked into the loop (from spa - heater -
spa) with a circulating pump of your choice ??
Any decent plumber should be able to do that and if you don't want to hook
up the pump then ditto for the electrician.


--
Regards ............... Rheilly Phoull

 

[David]

I don't know what money you want to spend but how about one of
the the
latest remote control gas heaters hooked into the loop (from
spa - heater -
spa) with a circulating pump of your choice ??
Any decent plumber should be able to do that and if you don't
want to hook
up the pump then ditto for the electrician.

It might be a bit more complicated than this and I suggest you
contact Rinnai for advice before shelling out as the flow rate
versus heat input may need to be adjusted. I would suggest an
electric heater could only be used if fitted with a duty cycle
modulating controller with a probe in the outlet line. These can
be obtained from an industrial electronics supplier (or RS,
Farnell, etc).

Don't forget an RCD must be used as well as properly protecting
the gas and electricals from water - both normally as well as a
pipe rupture or leak. Oh, also keep in mind the death rate in
Japan from people who die in overheated baths (its high) and the
death/injury rate of people who faint as they exit the bath (head
strike is common). Appropriate positioning and locating
accessories will help with the latter.

Good luck, sounds like a good idea. Immersion heaters for baths
used to be sold but I haven't seen one for a while now.

Cheers