The Zypho heat recovery system is now being installed in the UK as a way to recover heat and energy that would otherwise be lost down the drain.
Invented by José Meliço, when he was 14, the Zypho is a system that is installed under a shower tray or a bathtub and becomes part of the drainage system, which allows approximately 10°C from the shower water that passes through the device to be recovered.
The recovered heat is then transferred to the cold-water mains before arriving at the shower tap mixer that is already preheated, meaning less hot water is required to reach the optimum shower temperature.
It is estimated by Zypho that around 15-30% of a typical home energy bill is spent on heating water and almost 90% of the energy used to heat your shower water ends up down the drain and is wasted.
There have been 10,000 units sold over 15 counties and the investment for the company came from Portuguese utilities company EDP who discovered the product after seeing Zypho reach the final three entries of the EDP Richard Branson Innovation Award.
“The daily showers for a household of three people account for approximately 5,000 Kwh of energy consumption. Zypho could help save around 30% of that, which would be the equivalent of twelve 9-watt compact light bulbs running constantly for an entire year,” says Meliço.
“As a completely passive technology, Zypho is one of the simplest and safest ways to save money and reduce energy consumption, recovering wasted heat energy with each and every shower. Neither your shower temperature nor your shower time has to change, and once installed, Zypho is not visible in your shower or bath.”
The device can be installed for domestic and commercial purposes as a way to reduce the carbon footprint and lower the cost of running the building.