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Geothermal Air Temperature Modifier

Paul Fookes

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Location: Gulgong, NSW, Australia (Cold Zone 9B, Hot Zone 6) UTC +10

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posted 4 years ago

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This project is designed to cool the internal house temperature by drawing the air through an underground pipe system and then pumping the cooled air into the living areas. The cooler air will displace the warmer air upwards and into the ceiling cavity. This project will be updated as each part is constructed.
Part 1 is construction of the hole 15 M long X 4 M wide X 1.5 M deep. The intake will be in an area with tree overhang and the outlet to the house is 200 mm inside the verandah. Complications to date: rain, bogging the digger in the mud, collapsed sewer pipe and access to the outlet hole through the verandah (bugger, another pipe).
Part 2 to follow once pipes are in the ground

Bogged-in-the-Mud-Buggar.jpg

Had to wait 2 Weeks for Rain to Stop and Mud to Dry

Hole-to-the-West.jpg

Hole.jpg

Outlet-Hole-Top.jpg

Outlet-to-House.jpg

Excavating to under the verandah 1.6 M down

Pipe-collapse.jpg

Sewer pipe collapsed. Long unsupported span

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Lukas Weissberg

Posts: 60

Location: Central Chile (zone 8-9?)

posted 4 years ago

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Hi Paul,
Great project and great use of geothermal energy for cooling!
Is the water in the pictures only after rainfall? Or do you have a groundwater level that high? You migh consider burying the pipes at least 50cm deep in order to avoid dailiy T fluctuations, but above any water table.
Cheers
Lukas

Paul Fookes

gardener

Posts: 2370

Location: Gulgong, NSW, Australia (Cold Zone 9B, Hot Zone 6) UTC +10

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posted 4 years ago

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Lukas Weissberg wrote:Hi Paul,
Great project and great use of geothermal energy for cooling!
Is the water in the pictures only after rainfall? Or do you have a groundwater level that high? You migh consider burying the pipes at least 50cm deep in order to avoid dailiy T fluctuations, but above any water table.
Cheers
Lukas

Thank you Lukas, The water is as a result of rain. We had a horrendous year - drought so the ground was undigable and then we went into a la nina weather pattern where we were getting 100 mm (4") in a 24 hour period. We are now transiting into a el nino pattern so it it is drying out.
We have sodic soil so it is like a bog when wet, over worked and extremely acidified from the long term application of NPK. There in little to no bio activity or biomass. The other problem we have is that the extremely high clay content causes ground shift so we are mindful of the pipes needing to be well connected and not tight when we lay them.

Failure is a sign of activity and learning. It had nothing to do with under achievement
I never want to have a team member who has never failed - They are not doing!! 👍

Paul Fookes

gardener

Posts: 2370

Location: Gulgong, NSW, Australia (Cold Zone 9B, Hot Zone 6) UTC +10

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posted 4 years ago

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In Part 1 I said that Part 2 would happen when the pipes were in the ground. The problem with that you need to see how the pipes are joined - or at least the method we used. There are many more ways on YouTube. In our case the joins need to be water resistant/ proof because our ground is clay as you can see from part 1 and holds water perfectly so any water in the pipes is destined to stay and go moldy and smelly. Part 3 will happen, you cannot rush

GAHTS-Part-2-Piping-pic-1.jpg

GAHTS-Part-2-Piping-pic-2.jpg

GAHTS-Part-2-Piping-pic-3.jpg

Failure is a sign of activity and learning. It had nothing to do with under achievement
I never want to have a team member who has never failed - They are not doing!! 👍

S Bengi

pollinator

Posts: 3829

Location: Massachusetts, Zone:6/7 AHS:4 GDD:3000 Rainfall:48in even Soil:SandyLoam pH6 Flat

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posted 4 years ago

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In those smaller black pipes, condensed water vapor will get trapped in the groves and then get moldy, which could affect your health.
It would be good if you could slope the pipe towards the inlet, then add a sump pump where the water inevitable collects.

Iterations are fine, we don't have to be perfect
My 2nd Location:Florida HardinessZone:10 AHS:10 GDD:8500 Rainfall:2in/mth winter, 8in/mth summer, Soil:Sand pH8 Flat

Paul Fookes

gardener

Posts: 2370

Location: Gulgong, NSW, Australia (Cold Zone 9B, Hot Zone 6) UTC +10

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posted 4 years ago

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S Bengi wrote:In those smaller black pipes, condensed water vapor will get trapped in the groves and then get moldy, which could affect your health.
It would be good if you could slope the pipe towards the inlet, then add a sump pump where the water inevitable collects.

Thank you for the guidance. It is something that I have not thought about - the condensation as the air cools. I will do some mods.
In the ceiling cavity is a HEPA filter which is OK provided that I change the filters regularly.
Again, thanks for picking that up. 👍😊
Cheers

Failure is a sign of activity and learning. It had nothing to do with under achievement
I never want to have a team member who has never failed - They are not doing!! 👍

S Bengi

pollinator

Posts: 3829

Location: Massachusetts, Zone:6/7 AHS:4 GDD:3000 Rainfall:48in even Soil:SandyLoam pH6 Flat

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posted 4 years ago

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Some folks have a string in the smooth wall earth tube that goes from one end to the other. And every couple months, they tie a rage and pull it from one end to the next. (Always leaving some string at both end).

You could also just filled the pipes with Ozonated water, every once in a while to kill the microbes.

Iterations are fine, we don't have to be perfect
My 2nd Location:Florida HardinessZone:10 AHS:10 GDD:8500 Rainfall:2in/mth winter, 8in/mth summer, Soil:Sand pH8 Flat

Paul Fookes

gardener

Posts: 2370

Location: Gulgong, NSW, Australia (Cold Zone 9B, Hot Zone 6) UTC +10

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posted 4 years ago

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Ground pipe work is completed. Next step is to attach the intake to the HEPA fillter. Decided to put at the intake because it will be easier to service and minimise the system contamination risk by taking in unfiltered air. There will be two pre-filters will stop insects accessing the system. The house end will attach into the already installed ducting.

GAHT-Pipes-Completed.jpg

Ground Air Heat Transfer System in Ground Pipework Completed

Failure is a sign of activity and learning. It had nothing to do with under achievement
I never want to have a team member who has never failed - They are not doing!! 👍

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