Underground cooling

I would like to find more detailed info concerning the technique.
Thanks in advance.
ken

If a person would take this system several steps forward, one could heat there home or a good portion of the heating requirement with a very cheap system providing they maintained it themselfs and installed the componets (additional pannels and underground storage). With any solar system, maintance costs might exceed fuel savings if serviced by a company and not the owner.

T_Bone

About the only way to rid yourself of humidity is to drop the temperature under the dew point and that just don't happen with closed loop water systems but might have made a difference on making a heat pump more efficent on the condensor side.

T_Bone

Here in Va. we use the other half of the book for designing our underground houses but use air-to-air heat exchangers for ventilation. They'll collect a lot of water too if you don't have a dehumidifier in the air stream.

With all due respect to T-Bone, dirt, outside of Arizona, doesn't perform quite that well. But it's a whole lot better than anything else. Hait explains how heat moves through dry dirt very well. Our experiences confirm this. There's probably a web site, but I haven't spent time there.

Our local building department is now a fan of this type of housing. Extreme unbelievers initially. Controlling humidity is everything.

T_Bone

VaTom (ex-Arizonan)

How long you been gone from here? I'm sure you don't miss the summers!

T_Bone

As I recall, your well water typically spends a bit of time sitting in a water tower to give gravity pressure. And they didn't even used to paint the tanks white. Pretty good pre-heater for the water heater, but that's about all.

It's been almost 30 years since I was a desert rat. Used to carry grapefruit to keep the air-cooled VW running. I never did run into anybody else in the summer doing desert mountain climbing. Older and a little wiser now. Spend a little time spelunking out there and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out underground's a lot more comfortable. Just needs ventilation and fewer bats. You aware that those cotton farmers and others pumping water have dropped the ground elevation significantly?

VaTom (CGUHS grad)

Yep radon is a problem in several places. Most places make it more of a problem than it really is. A little venting and problem solved! Yakima, Wa has a big problem with Radon gas and supposed to be the worst in the USA. They tore down a few homes and the gov't bought back the land as normal correction methods would not work.

I've been here about 16yrs now and the water table was 400ft when we got here and now is back too 300ft because they made the farmers quit irrigating with well water. They put in a pipe line from the Colorado River to just South of Tuscon and charge (gouge) the farmers really bad.

The well water temperatures I've have been talking about is not storage tank temps but well discharge temps!

T_Bone

The tubing can be placed in a well or in a pond in addition to be buried. Putting it a pond is quite a bit less expensive than burying it in a trench or a vertical loop but over time sediment will build-up and insulate the tubing from the water.

I once saw a system like you spoke of where air was brought in. I think it was an early version of what is now couple with a heat pump. Anyway, here's a link to some government publication you may find useful. If it doesn't work send me an e-mail and I'll send you a link from the actual page.

• Geo Thermal

Bury a hundred feet or so of culvert deep in the ground. (eight feet or so I guess). One end of the culvert runs into your house. The other end terminates in a little shed and is connected to a large blower. In warm weather, you turn on the blower and 50 degree air blows into your house.

This was in a northern climate, as I recall.

May GOD bless,
Levi

Another known fact is a earth wall 2ft thick will also stay at a constant temperature year around in free amibemt air. There is no known calculation for this insulating quality but it is a time proven therory. The inside of a earth enclosed building will maintain a constant 70F degrees.

Iran, Egypt etc: have used both therorys for thousands of years for building. Most of the USA has adopted the Universal Building Code (UBC) which doesn't allow for earth buildings! I have a feeling the Utility Company's have alot of say so in this Code! In the past 10years, Arizona now allows earth buildings but still will not approve a all earth roof.

When I fine my refference book on earth buildings of Iran, I'll post it. It was written by a professor at U of A and I think it's title was Ceramic Houses. This guy has studied Iran's building method for a number of years that uses both therory's mentioned. Iran has very little electricity to there homes and there climate changes from 20 below zero to 120F above yearly.

How this professor ended up in Iran, was Iran forgot to seal there buildings with clay to make them water tight, then had a 100yr flood soaking the walls to 100% and making them very unstable. He solved the problem by making a blast furance fueled by diesel, that sealed the inside walls to a ceramic texture with over 2000F degrees, letting each building soak in heat for several days. They used a 1/4" clay for a water tight seal on the outside of the building after drying.

I don't post my e-mail addy all the time so please mark it now. I make too many mistakes when I type it.

T_Bone