earth tube cooling

17 years ago

I subscribe to a permaculture forum, and just read an anecdotal story about a man who dug a trench and put in several barrels with the ends cut out. He welded them together, covered the tube with 2 feet of dirt and put a swamp cooler on one end, connected to his house ducts. He runs the cooler without water, but with the pads (to keep critters out) and reports that his rooms are much cooler.

I thought it was a story worth sharing.

Jan

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Comments (6)

brendan_of_bonsai
17 years ago
Work much better through forested areas as the sun can heat up the ground effectively. Also keep in mind that condensation inside the tube can be a problem leading to toxic mold.
solarjohn
17 years ago
Do you happen to have a link to the article? I'd like to learn more about this.

SolarJohn
jll0306
Original Author
17 years ago
Solar John, I believe I saw it in the yahoo group called PhxPermaculture. I don't know if I can include the link, but I will try. If not perhaps you can find them.

They are active in the Phoenix area, which probably explains why the person didn't have any mold problems!

Jan
dan_mc
17 years ago
Petri dishes waiting to happen.

Virtually everyone I have ever seen has been abandoned and sealed up. Condensation occurs, microbial growth begins.

Only exception might be if you live in the arid southwest.
mugenex
16 years ago
hi there, i'm new to earth cooling tubes. here's my question, if we use a depth deeper than 3m, will the earth tube cooling will still be able to make a differences in the air temperature? in my opinion, we can save cost if we do it vertically instead of horizontally for the pipes...
davidandkasie
16 years ago
yeah, you could not do that around here, most of the year the water table is no much more than 3-4 foot below grade!