I will be updating this thread shortly....
Just added a new element to this setup:
The Hole…Geothermal Loop…56K Warning!
Check it out....money well spent.
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Here's some pix already posted in the Geo-loop thread.
This is the current PC setup:
The cardboard is supposed to be temporary, but may just wind up being permanent. I can use it for a template to cut out some plywood to stain, but it's way on the back-burner for now.
It really helps cool that area though.
That's where the HDs and PSUs are....so it warms up pretty good. Temps stay ~7-10F above ambient in there now which is more than adequate by me.
The indoor rad setup:
Connections made to the seasonal manifold:
The 2 tees/ blue tubes coming out of the floor are for the Geo-loop.
I've already fixed the creased tubing with an elbow:
Tubing, pump, etc:
Pump, Rad, etc:
This setup has worked out very well this year. It turned cold quickly, and I just turned on my main heater for the first time 3 days ago. I have run it 3x for a total of 3hrs.
That's it.
Other supplemental heat comes from a single 1K w $20 space heater from Wally-world. It has been mostly
off until these last few days where its been quite cold. And I have removed the dryer vent from venting outside, covered it with pantyhose in order to pump all that heat back indoors, instead of heating the neighborhood. It's run on perm press, not Hot.
This is kinda how it goes:
There is a 9" fan from wally-world the center of which is 21" down from the ceiling. The door to this room is wide-open and the fan is blowing the warm air down the hall. That's 24/7.
With Daytime temps in the 60's and only the car rad heating the place...I end up opening the back door until temps outside drop to about 58F. Without opening the backdoor, temps in this room get up to 89F. The other end in the high 70's-low 80's.
With daytime temps in the 50's or below...the back door stays closed.
Temps get up to 84-86F in this room.
Heating with only the PCs/rad temps is fine until outside temps start dipping into the 30's....then it starts to become time to turn on the space heater. It has a thermostat, so it doesn't run constantly...just helps out some.
When temps start hitting about 30F or below....it's time to do some laundry (dryer heat) or turn on the main heater (below 30F).
The last few days the daytime high's have been in the low 40's to mid 30's. Night time lows have been low 30's to mid-high 20's, so the laundry is getting caught up and/or the main heater has been turned on....
So, since it's gotten cold early and quickly this yr, I have had about 6 wks with probably 98% of the heating supplied by these PCs.
The other 1.5% has been the 1K space heater and I guessimate 0.5% from the dryer/main heater....and that's only been in the last few days for the main heater and couple of weeks for the dryer vent (gotta do laundry any way...
) It's been cloudy and rainy with fronts coming through, etc, so this place hasn't been collecting much radiant heat from the sun.
If this plays out this well toward the spring, then I am looking at 3 months without adding any heat other then my PCs this year.
: Lowest temps in here this year have been ~72F in this room and 65F on the other end. Normally they are much higher, but those are the lowest indoor temps and that is on the coldest nights with only the space heater adding help....
sometimes.
I am going to take some videos of the temps with the outside rad. The window is closed and the fans are off, so its totally passive. I'll post that stuff when I get it together.
Overall I am very happy with this setup. However, I am still moving forward. The Geo-loop looks very promising, but it will be used for super low-cost A/C this summer. However, it looks so promising that I am installing a 2nd loop dedicated to just the PCs. Slightly different setup and install, but I expect it to work
very well.
The outside car rad is going into the living room for the low cost A/C setup. I expect all of this "experimentation" to start paying for itself.....
about 6 wks ago.
So, hopefully, by this time next year the PCs will be geo-cooled (coming
very soon), and all my efforts will provide at least the bulk of the heat and a/c at a greatly reduced cost to me.
I expect to have my 8K btu a/c unit available to be turned into a Geo-heat pump for supplemental heating next yr.