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Crazy Idea? Geothermal cooling

S

smoothmove

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 11, 2004
Messages
248
I have searched, but haven't found anyone whom has tried it.

I am thinking of scrapping my radiator for buried copper pipe. In NJ, the ground temp is a constant 55 degrees. About 16 feet of copper pipe would have enough surface area to cool the water before returning to the resevoir. I have to see the head pressure related to the extra length of tube and the flow it would have with my current pump.

Any ideas?

I was going to try it and post my results.

I took my water cooling off yesterday due to heat- Core I7 Oc @ 4.2 - temps at 80c under load, 45 idle.

On Air- 55idle and 70 under load with stock cooler.

I am going for cool, silent and with keeping the OC.
 
buried pipe may be a waste of time. some ppl i know when it snows will simply stick their radiator sans fan into the snow, but this is only a winter-time solution. outside their window.

you may be able to get a cheap mini fridge and run pipe though that with some sealant. typically with the earth the lower you go the hotter it gets :rolleyes:
 
Been done, works fine. Lot of work and expense, easiest way is to bury a large steel tank to act as large ground cooled reservoir. Otherwise you have to dig up half you yard and copper pipe is not cheap any more.
 
I was thinking 1/2" copper tubing at 8 foot length with an elbow in it to make one 16 foot section.

The tank idea would also work, but where to get a tank is the problem.
 
piako said:
you may be able to get a cheap mini fridge and run pipe though that with some sealant.
Click to expand...

Don't do this or you will end up with a burned out frig real quick.

Also if you drop the temp down too much you will have to insulate your tubing to account for dew.
 
If you wanted to use a steel tank I'd suggest getting a submersible pump for it and a liquid to liquid heat exchanger. Plumb the pump in the tank to the heat exchanger on one side and the PC to the other side of the heat exchanger. You'll need a pump in the PC naturally but this way you won't be trying to suck water out of the bottom of a sunken tank with the PC pump which will be very ineffective.

Oh, yeah, a stainless steel pot would be best. Look for a stainless steel pressure cooker. Seals air tight and won't corrode.
 
I was thinking 1/2" copper tubing at 8 foot length with an elbow in it to make one 16 foot section.
Click to expand...

Likely not enough surface area in contact with ground but I cant find any of the old posts to say for sure. what would be really cool (ha ha /groan) is if you could find a lenght of the finned pipe they use for hydronic (hot water) baseboard heat. Basically you search junkyards, salvage building supply stores etc looking for something like this to tear apart and use the guts. http://www.accentshopping.com/product.asp/P_ID/151224

The tank idea would also work, but where to get a tank is the problem.
Click to expand...

The common way was to find a water hearter someone had tossed out because of a bad thermostat and use the tank out if it but you want to avoid a really old crappy one. Junkyards and city dumps have em by the truckload. A pair of tin snips makes quick work or removing the outer metal shell and of course you ditch the insulation, burner etc. etc. till you get to the bare tank, You can leave the heaters in on an electic one, they wont bother anything and you then will not have to plug those holes. Gas one will not have the heater/element holes and is a little more desirable. Less places to leak. You then plug the outlet and inlet and most tanks (the new ones do for sure) have a hose fitting at the bottom for draining the tank. Hook a garden hose up to the drain and crack open one of the plugs to let the air out and fill the tank till water comes out of the plug. Then tighten the plug so the tank is pressurized. Check for leaks and mark them. Drain tank and when outside is dry, use sandpaper to rough up the metal and use something like this. retest when done repairing leaks. http://www.plumbingsupply.com/repairkit.html 40Gallon reservoir !
 
madmat said:
If you wanted to use a steel tank I'd suggest getting a submersible pump for it and a liquid to liquid heat exchanger. Plumb the pump in the tank to the heat exchanger on one side and the PC to the other side of the heat exchanger. You'll need a pump in the PC naturally but this way you won't be trying to suck water out of the bottom of a sunken tank with the PC pump which will be very ineffective.

Oh, yeah, a stainless steel pot would be best. Look for a stainless steel pressure cooker. Seals air tight and won't corrode.
Click to expand...

The 2 loop system is the best idea it would limit condensation on the secondary side. I install geothermal cooling systems in South Jersey To be effective you must be below the frost line in your area .Instead of of copper use pvc tubing to your heat exchanger or uv rated tyvex tubing the stiff kind so it wont collapse.I would use a shell and tube heat exchanger look in mcmaster carr just do you load calc to get the right size .
 
Hmmm.... when doing thermal conduction calculations for my 'MASSIVE PASSIVE' system, I estimated that I would need about 280 feet of 3/8" copper tubing (sold in a coil) to cool my PC in a passive/convective manner. In order to keep a PC cool with only 16' of copper, you would run a pretty high delta, so in order to be effective, you would have to have the pipe kept frozen to shed the wattage/BTU's you want AND keep the temps at a reasonable level.
 
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