Heat trap loop in a multi-story building?
Hello, I've been reading a lot on DHW heat traps (nipples and loops) and I have a question on loops.
Do the loops only work in houses where the hot water faucets are at the same or lower level than the hot water outlet of the heater?
I live in an apartment building on the 4th floor and our oil (diesel really) heater is in the building's basement along with the hot water tank. So there's a very significant column of water in the piping that takes hot water all the way from the basement level to the apartment (probably 40-45 ft). The situation is the same on the cold inlet to the heater as well, as our cold water storage is in tanks placed on the roof of the building, so an even higher column of water sits on top of the cold inlet.
I checked our heater and therre are no heat trap loops or nipples. I'm suspecting significant heat loss from heat being thermosyphoned up through the hot water supply line to the apartment.
Will a heat trapping loop work in this set up? It seems to me that the really tall column of water on the output side of the loop will prevent it from Functioning correctly.
I really am not sure. I read somewhere that the trapping part of the loop is actually an air pocket the forms in the top portion of the loop. If that is the case, then where would that air come from especially in my case where both the faucets and the cold water storage are 40+ ft up?
Can someone help clarify all of this for me and maybe also help me save some energy :D?
p.s. I live outside the US, in Jordan to be exact :)