Combustion of Natural Gas

When natural gas burns, the chemical reaction produces three products: CO2, heat, and steam.

On a cold day, you may see the steam coming out of the chimney, along with a lot of heat. In fact, normal water heaters throw away 30-50% of the energy.

That steam contains a significant amount of heat, so we capture that heat and reuse it to reach thermal efficiencies up to 98%.

Evaporation & Condensation

When you sweat, evaporation draws heat away from your body. Condensation is the opposite. Think about a glass of iced tea on a warm, humid day. The cold glass condenses water from the air, and in the process pulls in heat--which warms the tea.

Intellihot water heaters use this same principle of condensation to pre-heat the incoming cold water. Before the natural-gas exhaust is vented outside, it passes through the cold water pipes. Water vapor in the exhaust condenses on those pipes, passing heat to the incoming water. Now the direct-flame heat exchanger heats warmed water instead of cold, which requires much less energy.