Author Topic: Help! Old Well Geo Thermal Air Conditioner  (Read 2469 times)

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Traveler747

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Help! Old Well Geo Thermal Air Conditioner
« on: March 27, 2013, 08:36:07 PM »
Hello,
In my basement is an old, dry 20 foot deep, 3 foot wide well. Given that it's a constant 54 degrees down there, I thought I might pump that air up in the summer to cool my bedroom. The only problem I see is moisture. Although there's no water in the well, it's still moist. I want to do this on a shoestring instead of using an off-the-shelf heat exchanger. Any ideas or warnings you could give would be most helpful.

Thanks! :-\

madlabs

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Re: Help! Old Well Geo Thermal Air Conditioner
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2013, 10:19:44 AM »
Trav,

Wow, that's cool! :-0 (pun intended)  I'm just starting to mess with a heat pump and sure wish I had a dry well to play with. But heat pumps aren't cheap so...

I'm not sure humidity would be an issue. It's in summer that you'll be using it after all. So don't borrow trouble, set up a duct and a fan and see if the moisture is an issue. If it is, you could maybe drop a little cement down there to reduce it.

Jonathan

OperaHouse

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Re: Help! Old Well Geo Thermal Air Conditioner
« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2013, 12:07:57 PM »
Or get Legionairs Desease.  I lived in San Antonio way back and at that time there were a lot of window evaporator units, the po boy AC.  I wouldn't do it since it would be easy enough to plumb it.  Then you would have cool and dryer air.

DanG

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Re: Help! Old Well Geo Thermal Air Conditioner
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2013, 11:21:37 PM »
Not saying it won't work but the costs/risks vs. rewards are small. One needs a difference in temperature of 40°F between solids, air, water to make heat energy transfer otherwise there is just not enough energy to overcome surface boundary conditions easily. And there is a finite mass to that 25' column of accessible mass, what you can  harvest 'dry' the first week may not be there the second week.

12AX7

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Re: Help! Old Well Geo Thermal Air Conditioner
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2013, 01:34:37 PM »
Depending on your location,  you may also want to check for radon.  You don't want to pump that into your bedroom.