Rheem Manufacturing Company

Yoshiki Semba

Qian Zhang

Jozef Boros

Subbramanian Thenappan

Takashi Nozaki

Ryosuke Umemura

Subbu Thenappan

A combustion system includes a premix blower system and the premix blower system includes an additional air inlet with an adjustable opening which includes an additional reversibly pluggable air intake. The adjustable opening of the additional air inlet can be opened at higher elevations to compensate for thinner air.

Modifiable premix combustion system and premix blower for elevation compensation

A high efficiency downfired gas water heater is provided which has a tank for storing water to be heated, a combustion chamber extending downwardly through a top end of the tank, and a gas burner operative to create hot combustion products within the combustion chamber. At the bottom end of the tank is a transfer chamber coupled to an external discharge conduit and to a single pass heat exchanger, in the form of multiple flue tubes. extending vertically through the tank and connected to the combustion chamber. In one embodiment of the water heater the burner is a power burner which forces the combustion products sequentially through the combustion chamber, heat exchanger, transfer chamber and discharge conduit. In another embodiment of the water heater a draft inducer fan is used to draw the combustion products through this path from the combustion chamber.

Down-fired high efficiency gas-fired water heater

Downfired high efficiency gas-fired water heater

The efficiencies of illustrative embodiments of vertical center flue type fuel-fired base water heaters are improved by installing in the water heaters variously configured tubular condensing type secondary heat exchangers of smaller diameters than the associated center flues. The efficiency increases are achieved with components and manufacturing processes similar to those utilized in the base water heaters and secondary heat exchanger materials similar to those in the tank portions of the base water heaters.

High efficiency gas-fired water heater

Growing community of inventors

Montgomery, AL, United States of America

Yoshiki Semba