Something else to remember is that the ground isn't isolated. If the ground
coils were set into a rock that was isolated from everything, it would reach
an equilibrium, and the system would stop working.
The heat that is pumped into the ground, or taken out for heating in the
winter, moves through the ground. It is dispersed with a little time.
If you installed a unit with too small a coil area underground, you could
heat saturate the immediate area around the coils, causing the system to
work poorly, and even to not work at all. This is essentially the same
problem with too small a window air conditioner on a hot day. It just can't
transfer the heat.
I don't know how old this is, but for some years, they've been installing
them with deeply drilled holes. I know somewhere back in the distant past
they used to be installed as a grid over a large area, just a few feet down.
Now they do deep drilling, and run the line(s) down deeply with minimal
horizontal footprint. This may be a decades old change, I simply don't
know.
I know of several underground heating systems, and they all work very well.
If I were to be considering installing a new heating system, I'd be very
inclined to look into these systems.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Franklin" <jamesf@groupwbench.org>
To: "Shop Talk" <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 7:55 PM
Subject: [Shop-talk] Geothermal (was:Re: garage heating, electric vs. gas)
> On Oct 18, 2007, at 11:41 AM, Paul Mele wrote:
>
>
>>
>> Then a geo-thermal is most efficient energy user, but most hassle
>> and cost
>> to install; however, if you really only want to keep it at 50
>> inside, and
>> your building is already very tight and insulated, a ground loop
>> about 5 ft
>> deep with water thru and air handler will keep it 45 or above in
>> winter and
>> 85 or below in summer here in NC (I've had this in my shop).
>
> How does the ground temperature not eventually reach equilibrium with
> the shop? I can't see the transfer of heat in dirt being fast enough
> to absorb a summer's worth of 85+ temps.
>
> jim
_______________________________________________
Shop-talk mailing list
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/shop-talk
|