Heaters

[foodchain]

Are you talking about geo thermal? Not quite accurate in your explanation.
All it is, is using the earch as a heat exhanger, and a heat pump.
Anyone needs info on this, I have lots as I looked into my drilling license here in TX for about 3 months ago.
You aren't actually moving anything out of the ground....just heating a liquid, usually an oil base or something similar inside a pipe. So one pipe is the sleve, the other is the smaller pipe with the fluid. The ground heats up the fluid and it is circulated through the heat pump, this will both heat and cool depending on whether ground is warmer or cooler than surface ambient temp.
Thermostats built into heat pumps on the higher end units will open and close automatically when a desired temp is reached.
Now don't crucify me here....this is a really really simplified version of how it works. It IS NOT a DIY guideline. DO NOT start digging a hole based on this. There's a reason it cost $4k here for an apprenticeship and at least 2 years on hands experience to be qualified, and you must pass the state's tests. This is just the super big bird version of it. I hope I didn't skip anything.

[foodchain]

I have a thread on the compost heater as well. Found some good info and put the links on there to I think....If not PM me and I will get them again. There's been a lot of work done on the compost heat exchanger, dates back to late 60's, possibly further. But the info I have show different designs on it from around that time.

[keith_r]

Jean Pain, the french guy did some interesting stuff;
Jean Pain (1930–1981) was a French innovator who developed a compost based bioenergy system that produced 100% of his energy needs. He heated water to 60 degrees celsius at a rate of 4 litres a minute which he used for washing and heating. He also distilled enough methane to run an electricity generator, cooking elements, and power his truck. This method of creating usable energy from composting materials has come to be known as Jean Pain Composting, or the Jean Pain Method.

[foodchain]

I have seen the documents where the water is passed through a pipe, or even a coil of pipe. Just like a heat exchanger. But the problems with them all has been consistancy. Methayne (sp) reactors are popular with some 'purists' and I have done some reading on them. But they would require a copius amount of bio waste to keep generating enough meth to run a whole house...well maybe okay for a real small one, less than a 1K ft. You got me thinkning now. I am gonna pull that stuff out again and play with it a little.

[blaster1]

Hi guys
Sorry for sounding dumb but here in SA we have a major electricity crisis & we the fools on the end get nailed for our suppliers mistakes . anyhow a 1.5k bill is doing well in my town so I look at everything that gives off heat & try & figure a way to use it. The govt gives rebates on using "geyser heating pumps" for preheating the hot water feed that goes to the water heaters. Sorry i see my mistake now we call them geysers you call them water heaters. this is an ac type unit that runs with minimal electricty usage & warms the water so the water heater wont work so hard to heat the household water hence big electricity savings.
Thats where I figured the fridges coil in the back is always hot. It runs about 45 C /113 F. its wasted energy why not use it?

G

[foodchain]

I don't follow. My water heater runs off gas, but there are electric ones available. The older style ones had aftermarket 'jackets' you could purchase for added insulation. This had them kicking on and off a lot less. Yes you are right, regardless of power source, they do put off an ambient heat. This is why my home office, which has the water heater and furnace in the closet, make that one room a lot hotter. IF you reroute your main water supply through your attic the ambient heat the builds up will in turn heat the water before the water heater. I did this and by accident I found that the water temp before the heater, or the cold lines are heating the water so hot I can't put my hand in it (durring Summer months, luke warm winter). But if you let it run for a while the cooler water from in the ground eventually runs the hotter water out. So, if I were to either slow the flow at the faucet or increase the amount of pipe in attic I could increase how long the water is in the attic, in turn prolonging the amount of warm water. If you use pex instead of copper, you will save an enormous amount of cash in materials, and there's no sweating/soldering involved.

[davidstcldfl]

this is an ac type unit that runs with minimal electricty usage & warms the water so the water heater wont work so hard to heat the household water hence big electricity savings.

This is an 'energy recovery unit'....the hot gas/refrigerant comming out of the compressor goes to the unit.
The unit has two coils...one for water (from the hot water tank) and the other for the 'hot gas'. The heat from the gas transfers into the water.
Blaster is correct...the pump in the ERU is very small....uses very little electric. It only ran, when the AC unit ran and the gas was 'hot enough'

Here in the States...these units worked very well when R-22 was still being widely used. They worked so well...that I know folks who turned 'off' their hot water tanks all summer. All their hot water came from the ERU on the AC unit.
Now that we are using puron/410-A refrigerant....they no longer work (as well). Most/all are abandoned when switching out an R-22 unit to Puron/ 410-A.

I don't know if recovering the heat from a refrigerator coil would be worth the effort and cost...?

[Shas]

Having built a few fish room/ buildings I have found it is more stable and practical to insulate and heat the room.

No doubt about it.
When I was in university I wrapped a bedroom with plastic
and had forty 40-gallon tanks in it,
plus my various small brooding tanks, brine shrimp tanks, etc
and I heated the whole business to 80 degrees
with 2500 watts of baseboard heater.

[foodchain]

Makes sense, with that water volume, it will hold heat throughout the day/night better and more consistantly than air. One of the reasons why bigger systems are more stable.
10 gallons fluctuates a lot more than 3,000.

[Shas]

Should it work out as planned, I will market the stove for about $300.00 plus shipping.

Hey there, Rick.
So, how did it work out?
Are you marketing your snorkel stove?
I've always loved that idea,
but I've never figured out how to make a water tight seal
between a hot stove and anything short of a steel tank.