My New Geothermal Cooling Loop!

[PopcornMachine]

Cooling using the earth! Very "cool" indeed.

Thanks for the pics and inspiration.

 

[Lirelent]

heh, yea, your radiator is so large it has its own moon.

 

[Diggrr]

one question is this completely silent or close to it.

It's quieter than my old triple radiator/fans (Noctuas even), but the dual pumps aren't quite silent. The 355 is humming noticeably. Not annoyingly so though.

I tried to dig below the foundation so I could come in through the basement and put my pumps down there, but alas, they were quite diligent in their digging when they built the house. (it's got a stone walled crawl-space below).

@ Lirelent: I tried to show the neighbor's my moon, and they called the Sheriff! lolz

 

[Lirelent]

I was actually thinking that in the summer a basement stays pretty cool, particularly the slab. Use the slab as a passive radiator, just add copper loops and pay a little extra for a careful pour job. As long as the copper survives the pour, should last a good long time. They do something similar for radiant heat floors.

 

[mjw21a]

Hmph, I just want to win the lotto so I can build a 2 story house with a massive basement for a man cave. Get old arcade machines, pool tables and multiple computers for a ready made LAN party

 

[Diggrr]

I was actually thinking that in the summer a basement stays pretty cool, particularly the slab. Use the slab as a passive radiator, just add copper loops and pay a little extra for a careful pour job. As long as the copper survives the pour, should last a good long time. They do something similar for radiant heat floors.

If I recall correctly, copper and concrete don't get along too well together. Concrete is slightly alkaline, so all you need is to add a little ground moisture and your copper begins to corrode away.
That, plus it's the ground moisture conducting your heat away as much as (if not more than) the soil solids.
If you're building, I'd put the copper outside, then switch to PVC to come inside under the foundation and up through the basement floor.
If you've already built, and the basement is nice and cool, just put a few rads down there and forget 'em...it's indirect geothermal, but it works (done it before).

@mjw, if I were to win the lotto I'd surely have a man-cave, but I'd also have 6-8 vertical wells for heating and cooling, and two more for PC's, everything powered by my south facing roof covered solid with grid-tied PV panels. The only gap in the panels would be for my roof-top observatory dome w/24" telescope, cause that's just cool!!

 

[I.M.O.G.]

You are too cool man. Thanks for sharing.

Awesome job. My favorite part is how nearly every sentence includes the phrase "that I made".

 

[Diggrr]

Thanks Boss, that made my day!

 

[RollingThunder]

Bugger..... Looks like there's little chance of running one here in Australia..... Might be ok for those in Tasmania and Victoria still though.

Crikey, you guys have too many vipers and spiders down there crawling around to be digging holes in the ground!



Diggrr, that is simply outstanding and very creative.
Geezus, that is really neato!

 

[EarthDog]

Whats funny is this is about the only compelling reason I would want to own a house again... I cant do that where I rent.

 

[mjw21a]

Crikey, you guys have too many vipers and spiders down there crawling around to be digging holes in the ground!

Nah, we've no vipers over here. It's the king browns you want to watch out for, those buggers will chase you. We've nothing as nasty as those black mamba's in Africa or America's rattle snake.

 

[Diggrr]

Some time ago, I'd seen Opal miners in the outback would dig out a house underground because it was as cheap as time and labor spent, and much cooler than anything they could build atop the ground.
I'd say if they can find cool temps underground, then you can too.
If the ground is dry down there, I'd double the loop size that I used though, because you'd be using the dirt alone as a heat sink.

 

[mjw21a]

Go down deep enough and you'll find water. Doesn't matter where you are

Mind you, the same could be said of lava

 

[Bobnova]

Absolutely glorious, I've always thought this'd be a fantastic thing to do!

I want to run a loop through the bits you can use to heat a bathroom floor. Then I could keep my feet warm and my computer cool all at once

Anyway, very cool, thanks for doing the writeup!

 

[Yevans]

I wouldn't mind trying this in the UK. The hottest it has ever been was 38.5C (101.3F) and it barely ever gets near there. The water table is pretty high and it rains a lot here so the ground should be moist almost year round. What do you think thick clay would do to heat dissipation?

Also no ridiculous animals to get in the way of digging either.

 

[jr1]

awesome work )
just have to admire the guys that goes that extra mile

hehe nope i don't look at the low spot but i was looking at the rock outside and thinking of drilling a couple holes down 60 to 70 ft down ;-)) ( working with trilling and blasting for gravelpits and so on )

 

[Convicted1]

You know...

Ever since reading this thread I've been considering doing the same thing.

The only problem I have is I'm no where near as handy at fabrication... So I'd have to figure out a way to BUY the pump and reservoir combo deal in a size big enough to match the loop.

I also don't have the wettest soil here in the summers.... So I'd double or tripple the copper tubing length.

Anybody got ideas on the pump / res combo? Would have to look pretty "finished" to keep the wifey happy.

 

[PopcornMachine]

I would love to do this, but I don't have a yard of course.

How feasible would it be to use a large pot of soil, with drain at the bottom?

Wouldn't be nearly as large, but I think if the soil is kept wet it could provide good cooling. Just a thought.

 

[Convicted1]

I would love to do this, but I don't have a yard of course.

How feasible would it be to use a large pot of soil, with drain at the bottom?

Wouldn't be nearly as large, but I think if the soil is kept wet it could provide good cooling. Just a thought.

You'd be at the mercy of the surrounding air temperature with only a pot of soil.

Doing it the way the OP has... The Earth naturally stays cooler the deeper you go.. (Obviously to a point.)

It'd have to be a mighty big pot to get any positive effect from it in the summer.

 

[snod33]

That is an awesome project well done and congrats.