Hey Guys I'm building a workshop and it gets pretty hot here in Adelaide Australia. Last summer we had a few heat waves over 40°c and one day of 47°c. That's why I decided to try a zero energy geothermal cooling system. I'll post my progress here and temperature experiments when it's finished.
First I had to cut down a tree and get the stump out by hand due it's location.
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zero energy workshop
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, It's not." - Dr Seuss
I proceeded to dig out 450mm of soil from an area of 2500mm x 2900mm.
I also discovered a storm water down pipe that was just pouring into the neighbours yard so I fixed that.
Then I laid the cooling pipes.
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, It's not." - Dr Seuss
I've laid the quarry rubble and hopefully will do the concrete slab (yes I know it's not very permacultureish) on Sunday. After that I can build the shed.
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, It's not." - Dr Seuss
Finally had enough mates around to get rid of the old 200 kg spa and bring the shed pieces around. This morning I've flashed the deck and tidied up. I have a mate coming this weekend to erect the shed yay.
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, It's not." - Dr Seuss
Love your idea.
Does the system include a drain for condensation?
I didn't spot any glue in the video, are the pipes friction fit?
That might be enough allow drainage.
William Bronson wrote:Love your idea.
Does the system include a drain for condensation?
I didn't spot any glue in the video, are the pipes friction fit?
That might be enough allow drainage.
I didn't really think about condensation. Hopefully it will be negligible or drain out the unglued joints like you suggested.
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, It's not." - Dr Seuss
Ok finally have the shed up. I've basically ran out of cash though so it'll be going quite slow now. I have plugged up the holes in the shed to try stop air coming in from the sides instead of the cool tubes. I have no ventilation in yet to help draw the hot air out. However I have just put one thermometer probe on top of a cool tube and one outside. I'll do more experiments when I'm finished.
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, It's not." - Dr Seuss
Question: when the incoming warmer air goes through the piping and is thus cooled by the earth's heatsink, doesn't condensation form on the warm side, i.e., inside the pipes, and create a condition for mold? And if so, would such mold be the type that is dangerous to breathe when the cooler air comes into the home?
Alden Banniettis wrote:Question: when the incoming warmer air goes through the piping and is thus cooled by the earth's heatsink, doesn't condensation form on the warm side, i.e., inside the pipes, and create a condition for mold? And if so, would such mold be the type that is dangerous to breathe when the cooler air comes into the home?
According to the Citrus in the Snow guy, no. He has been running these systems for years without issue.
I forgot to post my progress.
I got some free insulation and bought plaster board.
https://youtu.be/JonPxLX6EQ8 It's basically finished now and has become my microgeens shed.
It's now mid winter and the LED lights are keeping it warm enough for good germination.
I can't wait to do more testing in the summer.
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, It's not." - Dr Seuss
From everything I've seen it appears that this needs to be deeper to give good results. I've never seen this style of pipe used either. I'm trying to have some discussion on residential heating and cooling here on this GAHT topic: https://permies.com/t/143851/earth-tubes-heating-cooling
Appreciate the update, will want to see more with this relatively shallow setup!
My first bit of advice is that if you are going to be a mime, you shouldn't talk. Even the tiny ad is nodding:
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