February 27, 2009 at 7:57 am
I think if you've ever been camping you've probably tried gnats urine...
And alright, I admit it, I've had a few buds myself...
As far as cooling is concerned, isn't just a reversal of geothermic energy collection? I know if you run enough pipes you can get your house heated pretty well even when the ground temperature is near to freezing, so you'd think the reverse would also be true (I guess that's how a fridge works isn't it)....
Only question being if it's hot what would you do with the heat energy you'd collected, presumably if you can collect enough heat to heat a house to 22 degrees C with 25 metres of geothermic piping when the ground temperature is about 2 degrees then potentially you could collect enough to boil water (i.e. drive a steam turbine) when it's 30 degrees.... Hmmm....
February 27, 2009 at 7:58 am
One of the first thing I did when i bought my home was to add trees around my house. But you need to be patient.
Having big conifers on the north side of the house can block cold winter wind and for the summer, on the south and west side, big trees that make shadow to block sunlight. But dont put conifer for south and west side, because during winter we need the sunlight to warm the house.
February 27, 2009 at 8:27 am
You can "reverse" the flow of geothermal. It's basically a heat pump and you jump the heat into the Earth, which presumably can absorb it. I'm not sure how much you can get, but since below ground is usually high 50s (58F?), with enough piping, you can theoretically cool your house down to that level, or get close. You'd need good pumping to move the heat, and perhaps a great heat exchanger, but it should work.
I know a few people that have done geo here, but mostly for heating. Never asked about cooling. They've used an acre of land to spread the 100 ft of piping around, going horizontal about 12-15 ft down rather than drilling 100ft deep.
February 27, 2009 at 8:44 am
Yeah, I looked into it to see if I was right and it talked in terms of putting 1kw/h into the electric pumps to generate about 3 to 4 kw/h in heat energy.
So, in terms of cooling, I don't see why you should dump the heat energy back into the ground. I say heat the water up as hot as you can and supplement it with electricity to get it to boiling point and drive a steam turbine.
I can feel a project coming on, I'm sure it would be hopelessly inefficient....
Actually bollocks to that, let's go the whole hog and use a Tesla turbine, if you're going to do these things you should follow the lead of the world's finest ever nutter.
March 1, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Steve Jones - Editor (2/27/2009)
beer is beer.
Dear oh dear... how is anyone on this site ever going to trust your judgement again? 😀 And I thought I had managed to get a sensible conversation on energy to degenerate into a slanging match on the (much more serious) topic of one's favourite beverage. I've brewed a few myself, and down under here the issue is even more urgent, so I fully appreciate Luke's dedication.
As implied above, there are lots of ways to make cooling more efficient - the usual insulation rules apply, and passive design can go a long long way too. First issue is to get the overhangs on your eaves right. Then if you can plant deciduous trees to block summer sun but permit the winter, etc.
Not too surprisingly, you get lots of people flogging air conditioners down under, and the energy rating system has been picked up on, but the issue of right-sizing seems to be frequently glossed over.
One thing you don't hear of round here is the whole house fan. They seem expensive, but more energy efficient. Anyone got any comments on them?
March 1, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Here's to you Aussies tossing out your English brewing heritage in favor of more flavorful brews... There've been some really exciting things coming out from down under lately.
Back to the energy bit however, whole house fans can be quite nice, but it's important that they be used properly. Too many people who have them just don't understand how to use them. Turn them on in the evenings to vent the hot air from your house and pull in the cool evening breeze. Too many people turn them on in the middle of the afternoon to "get some air flowing" when the air outside is even hotter than what's in the house and wonder why they "just don't work". They end up pulling in more hot air than they started with. A house with proper shade can stay quite cool through most of the day, and then in the evening when it cools back off outside, you turn on the fan to vent the "stale" hot air from inside and pull in fresh cool night air.
-Luke.
March 1, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I'd like to try it in my basement, but at $1/ft, that's expensive.
Buy some 3/8" aquarium tubing, instead.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
March 3, 2009 at 5:30 pm
That's an interesting idea. Not sure how it will work with drywall and the studs, but something to look at.
March 3, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Steve Jones - Editor (3/3/2009)
That's an interesting idea. Not sure how it will work with drywall and the studs, but something to look at.
Dab of hot melt glue about once every 12" to 18" to hold it in place... two pieces on on studs where the drywall joins.
Another idea is just to cut some foam (<= 1" thick) strips about 1-1/2" wide and hold it in place the same way... seems like 1/2" foam would do the best and, if it's the "pink stuff", you don't have to cut it all the way through... score it about half way through and snap it kinda like scoring drywall.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
March 4, 2009 at 7:43 am
Hot glue and foam do not mix.
March 4, 2009 at 7:46 am
March 4, 2009 at 8:01 am
I do not know what the gain on insulating the stud's edge but, to me, it seems that the cost/gain depends on where you live.
This just occurred to me. What about lining the wall with the foam used to cushion laminate flooring? Staple the foam in place and then sheetrock as usual.
The outside wall into my garage/storage that needs sheetrock. I may just look into adding the foam. My garage door faces the west and gets extremely hot in the summer.
March 4, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Luke L (3/4/2009)
no, but liquid nails works adequately well for these types of applications.
Heh... So does two short nails.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
March 4, 2009 at 10:01 pm
I was thinking Elmers. Seem to have too much of that around 🙂
The energy savings from those studs can be significant. They often show up on thermal scans.
March 5, 2009 at 7:56 am
Silicon sealer also makes for a good adhesive.
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