Patent ID: 7506616

Claim:
Apparatus for heating a liquid using either combustible fuel or electricity, said apparatus comprising: a fuel-fired liquid heater having a tank for storing liquid for selective outflow from said tank, a fuel burner operative to create hot combustion gases, and a flue, extending through the interior of said tank, for receiving the hot combustion gases and transferring heat therefrom to liquid disposed within said tank; an electrically powered air conditioning refrigerant circuit having a condenser portion including a piping structure, through which refrigerant flows during operation of said refrigerant circuit, disposed in an interior portion of said liquid heater and operative to transfer rejected condenser portion heat to liquid in said tank during operation of said air conditioning circuit; and a heat conduction barrier structure formed from a thermally insulative material and thermally insulating said piping structure and said flue against conductive heat transfer therebetween.