DIY Geothermal sizing for shed

[Atokatim]

What would be the best size to go with?

[gww]

I am hoping as you go through this prossess that you take a couple of pictures.  I wonder if a salt water tank would hold your heat?  I thought I read some where that it held heat better but I could just be dreaming it.  I did see a you tube vidio of a homemade heat pump once.  The problim is you never get reports of it working after done.
Good luck
gww

[tanner0441]

Hi

If you don't want to go down the cost of a heat pump could you not pull your water from the ground and run it through a solar water panel on the roof of your shed. Even in winter you will get some gain, and if your into electronics a simple diff op amp  could be used to control a solenoid and bi pass the panel if it is not hot enough.

One thing I haven't heard so far is COP factor with a heat pump, and for a low temperature gain for comfort heating you could expect a COP factor of at least 3:1 and possibly  5:1 or even 7:1 I have seen swimming pools with higher than that quoted but never seen it confirmed.

In case your not conversant with COP factor it is coefficient of performance, for every kilowatt of electricity you put into the thing you get 3 or more kilowatts or more of heat out.

Pity your swamp is so far away that would make an ideal heat source, freeze a great chunk of it solid and strip the latent energy as it tries to thaw out. When I worked in AC I wanted to try it with my parents swimming pool..... Bad suggestion my mother went on for weeks......

Brian
 

[Mary B]

I have thought about burying 3 ibc totes with lots of insulation on bottom sides and a removable top. have coils in each to run water/antifreeze mix to house. Take cover off in winter and let it freeze solid, use the cold in summer to cool the fridge. More modern version of an icehouse

[Atokatim]

The problem I have with pulling water from the ground is getting to it.  I have no clue how deep the water table is and from what I have heard from drilling companies is I would have to go down at least 200ft before I get to a consistent water source.  PVC is just not going to make it that far.

I just put a hold on a new hotel AC / Heat unit which I may be able to modify slightly to work, but getting water from the earth or a geothermal loop is sounding pretty dang expensive unless I can get a hold of a backhoe for cheap.  The little window AC unit I have right now just cools and is rated for 5.5A at 110V and runs the compressor pretty much all day.  The hotel unit is 20A at 220V and I think it will actually be able to cycle on and off which may save some electricity.  Any thoughts on this?

[drbob]

insulate that building better.

[Atokatim]

It is insulated pretty dang good....especially for a shed.  I think one of the problems with the 110 unit is that I installed it on the west side of the shed which is in the sun during the hottest parts of the day making it work harder to remove more heat and get rid of that heat.