Cooling alternative?

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LLBUX

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Joined
Nov 23, 2010
Messages
697
Location
Chapin, Illinois
I am considering burying 300' of black plastic tile 48-60" in the ground and using Mother Earth to cool air brought into a well-insulated room.
The plan calls for an exhaust fan to pull air into the room through the buried tile. 
(Fans would be used on the cattle as well)
I would think incoming air should be 55-60 degrees and adequate in keeping the room 20 degrees or more below ambient temperature during warm days.

A safety door or similar device would be needed in case of power outage.

Any comments?


You may ask why?   
I'm looking for something simpler and cheaper than refrigeration. 
The tile can be bought and installed for under $500. 
An exhaust fan will run on 90% less energy than a compressor.
 

cyclone38

Active member
Joined
Sep 13, 2011
Messages
27
I have thought of doing this myself and have heard of a guy that has done it. He ran his down the hill from his barn and the opposite end came out near a ditch or creek bank. That way fresh air is always entering the tile. Basically a cheap geothermal. He used a non-perforated tile so that there wasn't water going down it therefore preventing air from coming up. If you do not have the opposite end open, you would have to probably used perforated tile to get air pulled in. In that case, you would need to do some soil testing for water percolation and permeability. You wouldn't want your tile to fill up with musty water. I would still put some sort of exhaust fan in the barn as well though but I do that whether I a/c it or not.
 

LLBUX

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Joined
Nov 23, 2010
Messages
697
Location
Chapin, Illinois
My plan calls for the non-perforated tile you mention along with a shaded point of entry(with screen to keep out the vermin.


A 24" exhaust fan  will draw plenty of cool air through the tile.
 

Tallcool1

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Jun 21, 2012
Messages
969
I love the way you are thinking!

I have never actually seen anyone do this, but it does make sense to me.  I guess the first question that comes to my mind is exactly how much of that tile it would take to get the air temperature down to the same temperature as the ground.  In other words, I think that you will be drawing the air out of the tile faster than the ground can cool that air.  I envision 90 degrees outside, pulling the air through 300 feet of buried tile, and the air coming into the barn at 80 degrees......not the same 55 degrees that the ground temperature is at.  With that said, it is still an improvement and better than the 90 degrees you started with.

I really like the idea as it applies to HEATING the same barn in the winter!  It would be really nice to be able to keep that room at 45 degrees when it is 20 below!! 

You may just have something here!

Good luck.
 

BadgerFan

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Jul 30, 2009
Messages
431
any HVAC guy or engineer can figure out how long of a tile you need based off square footage of the barn and BTU output off the number of animals you intend to have in the barn and a few other factors.  It'd be worth consulting an HVAC or geothermal guy before you start laying tile.  Just my opinion.  Charge on.
 

ZNT

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Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
1,006
Location
Rhome, TX
Tallcool1 said:
I love the way you are thinking!

I have never actually seen anyone do this, but it does make sense to me.  I guess the first question that comes to my mind is exactly how much of that tile it would take to get the air temperature down to the same temperature as the ground.  In other words, I think that you will be drawing the air out of the tile faster than the ground can cool that air.  I envision 90 degrees outside, pulling the air through 300 feet of buried tile, and the air coming into the barn at 80 degrees......not the same 55 degrees that the ground temperature is at.  With that said, it is still an improvement and better than the 90 degrees you started with.

I really like the idea as it applies to HEATING the same barn in the winter!  It would be really nice to be able to keep that room at 45 degrees when it is 20 below!! 

You may just have something here!

Good luck.

I am definitely no expert on this, but I have always thought this would be a very good way to cool a barn.  I would think if you kept the air continually circulating, your temperature will slowly come down.  The first time through the tile may not cool the air all the way, but as it goes through the 10th or 15th time, you would think it would start making a difference.  As a kid, I always dreamed of converting a potato cellar to a show barn.  I never did get a chance to make that happen.
 

BadgerFan

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Jul 30, 2009
Messages
431
I am definitely no expert on this, but I have always thought this would be a very good way to cool a barn.  I would think if you kept the air continually circulating, your temperature will slowly come down.  The first time through the tile may not cool the air all the way, but as it goes through the 10th or 15th time, you would think it would start making a difference.  As a kid, I always dreamed of converting a potato cellar to a show barn.  I never did get a chance to make that happen.
[/quote]

only true if you can overcome the effect of the heat output from the cattle themselves and the heat seeping in from outside (no room is truly air tight).
 

Doc

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Apr 13, 2007
Messages
3,636
Location
Cottontown, Tennessee
Same principal as putting a pipe under your water tank . There is a formula for size of pipe vs size of water tank and how far down to go. They say that if you do this all that your water trough will do is maybe get a little skim of ice on top.
 
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