the only part of this I didn't understand Dale, was the all ready heated air" part. What is the theory behind using cooler outside air? thanks
On Sat, 17 Feb 2007, Dale Leavens wrote: > Hi Scott, > > Yes, drilling holes to extract geothermal heat is very expensive. The water > sort can be open or closed loop, they can draw water from the bottom of a > lake or river then return it when the heat or cold is extracted from it or > they can be closed loop, water or other virulant is run through closed pipe > in a water bath like a lake. > > Rather than drilling holes though you can dig a trench 8 to 10 feet deep > depending on your frost line, possibly a little shallower and lay a closed > loop system into it. That is much cheaper than dropping it down a hole. > > To answer your other question, closed combustion units draw combustion air > from the outside into a closed chamber where it is burned and then blown > back out. Usually two 3 inch PVC pipes are used, there are limits to the > distance you can run them, up here we usually push them out through the rim > joist but the exhaust must be some distance from a window or other opening > just to keep carbon monoxide out. > > There is a fan which comes on to clear any residual gasses from the system > after which an igniter starts a pilot then the main fuel. Fuel is circulated > along with the exhaust gasses back through the combustion chamber in ways to > burn any incompletely combusted fuel and the lot recirculated until what > comes out of the exhaust is about body temperature along with a load of > water which is drained off the bottom of the unit. > > The better gas units or propane units claim something like 98% efficiency > but I understand that there are fuel oil versions these days which are > pretty darn good to, a little more carbon to get rid of I suppose. > > The real advantage is not just the efficiency but you are not burning > already heated room air and you don't have an open flue constantly > withdrawing heat up the chimney. Usually finding a place for an inlet and > outlet pipe is easy no chimney and very cool. > > I expect you could go Propane but it will cost to have a tank, similarly > fuel oil. > > If you have enough soil though, a back hoe up here costs about 50 bucks an > hour last time I hired one and they shift a load of dirt in an hour if you > want to consider geothermal. It won't be cheap to instal but it will give > you efficiency similar to what you might expect with outdoor temperatures > at a constant 55 or so degrees F. There is the additional cost of running > the circulating pump but that is minimal. > > I have a gas closed combustion furnace in my basement, don't remember the > capacity. I am now having a little trouble with reliability, it is now 16 > seasons old. There are a number of sequencing things which have to happen, > little vacuum sensors and such which detect that all the cycles complete > before heat comes through each demand cycle and we have been having a little > trouble recently with it. I took it apart last week and found some crap in > the tip of one of the rubber tubes I think washed down the exhaust vent with > water, it looked to me like a shard of the PVC when a pipe was cut, probably > washed down over time with condensation. There are a lot of parts though > which could fail. > > Hope this information is helpful. > > Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Skype DaleLeavens > Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Scott Howell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2007 3:42 PM > Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] what to know about replacing your central unit > > >> Now water to air sound really interesting. Gee, wish I had known >> about these when I was getting a new system. I looked into one of the >> geothermal systems and they could install, but I'd need a 400 foot >> hole drilled and man that would have cost some serious cash so I had >> to scrap that plan. Drilling into the ground here wouldn't be easy >> since we sit on a great deal of rock. >> >> >> Scott >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> >> >> To listen to the show archives go to link >> http://acbradio.org/handyman.html >> or >> ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ >> >> The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. >> http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday >> >> The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. >> http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml >> >> Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various >> List Members At The Following address: >> http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ >> >> Visit the new archives page at the following address >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man >> list just send a blank message to: >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> Checked by AVG Free Edition. >> Version: 7.1.412 / Virus Database: 268.18.1/690 - Release Date: 16/02/2007 >> >> > > To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ Visit the new archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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