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re: geothermal driveway heating
11 oct 2004
ted@soleburymountain.com wrote:
>check out this link to see why it's not even feasible with a full
>geothermal hot water system:
http://bama.ua.edu/~geocool/survival%20kit%20_faq12.htm
from: "nick pine"
to:
cc:
subject: faq #12
date: tue, 12 oct 2004 07:22:51 -0400
gentlemen,
your faq #12 portrays snow melting as difficult and expensive,
even when using compressors. are you familiar with the japanese
system with 60 f water entering heat exchangers under sidewalks
and emerging at 45 f for sprinkling over the street?
the water might come from a well, with a stone-filled trench
alongside a driveway with a layer of poly film under groundcloth
to collect and reheat most of it. sprinkling it over the driveway
would eliminate the cost of the driveway heat exchanger and
the thermal lag you mention.
if it's damp from a few trench leaks, the soil below the trench
may have a substantial thermal capacitance (50 btu/f-ft^3) and
a high effective conductance for upward heatflow (perhaps 20
btu-in/h-f-ft^2), with water evaporating from lower soil layers
and condensing in upper layers and keeping a non-porous driveway
surface warmer all winter.
as steve strong says "what exists must be feasible" :-)
why don't we do this in the us?
nick
(no response yet.)
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