Greywater heat recovery (drain water heat exchanger)

Passive heat exchanger around a shower/sink drain preheats incoming cold water using outgoing warm greywater, no pump, feeds directly into domestic water heating.

Cost
Medium
Upkeep
Occasional
Skill to build
Intermediate
Lifespan
20-30+ years, a passive copper/stainless heat exchanger with no moving parts, one of the longer-lived items in the water-heating cluster
Embodied carbon
Medium
Space / material use
Low
Output timing
Continuous process
Skill to repair
Intermediate

Note: Cost, carbon and footprint are rated against the other options for this same need, not in absolute terms.

What your site needs

A vertical drain run accessible for the exchanger to wrap or replace a section of pipe

Inputs

Outputs

Sources

What this page does not tell you

No sizing or quantities: how much a technique yields, and how much a household needs, both depend on the build and the people, so the catalogue compares options rather than dimensioning them. It carries no bill of materials and no build sequence, and it is written for an oceanic, clay-soil climate (Normandy, France). Regulatory notes are indicative and need confirming locally.