easy DIY geothermal cooling system.

I'm trying to figure out some low energy alternative way to have air conditioning. My off grid power system can't keep up with a conventional unit so I figured I would try this.

[@kaf2303]

Nice , you are right about the cost of moving water in a closed loop being minimized compared to lifting in a open loop. Your system is much like the system I am building to heat my home, mine will have 200’ of 3/4” copper I’m a well circulation will be a taco 007 through a water to refrigerant evaporator /heat exchanger , and the condenser will heat water for radiant floor heat. Be sure to update with how well it works!👍👍

[@hershchat]

I will build one. Here is the calculations. A 600 sq ft room with 2 blokes will need 20,000 kJ cooling. You need 200 gallon water to take that heat down by 10 deg C. The tap water is at 15 deg and my room at 35. So I have the needed 20 degree gradient. Water moved heat 20x faster than air. So, if I had a 40 cfm 12 W fan (itty bitty thang), I’ll need 1 cfm water pump. 1 cfm is 7.5 gpm. Another itty bitty thang. Together 25 W. Once I get flow rates right, it should take a 40 cfm fan 2.5 hours to exchange 6,000 cubic feet air over the copper coils. Right? If I am not missing something, this will be a $7/month way to cool a 20,000 btu (1.7 ton) space. Maybe I’ll solve world hunger next.

[@lukeFugate]

Sounds like it should work.

[@knoxcody34]

Im not sure about everything you said but it sure sounds nice

[@jsmythib]

What is the heat dissipation rate I can expect from standard gravel surrounding my well? 12ft deep, 6 feet of water 4x4ft roughly 376 gallons. My refill rate is +4 gallons a minute .Your gradient does not take this into account. I was thinking rather than recirculating I could just pump the water onto the ground 30 ft away and let it cycle through the ground, back to the well, to cool off. So much math.... I seem to have a 52f stable ground temperature here- A nice starting point. blah blah. Cheers :)

[@northgeorgia7357]

Earlier that day his wife sent him out to home depot to buy a window unit and then he spent all the money on beer the rest is history.

[@codylegodude659]

North Georgia kek

[@samsngdevice5103]

Nope. This guy has a unique set of skills you rarely see anywhere. He has the ability to think completely outside the box and overcome challenge while eliminating the high cost of achieving comfort we humans seek. What's important is that he has demonstrated his ideas with out comprising safety. He is not wreckless, careless or dangerous. I have seen other bird brained videos that are so dangerous in design i can only pray no one takes them seriously.

[@lilolelori1]

Lmao 🤣. Well as long as this worked and kept her quiet... Mission accomplished.

[@rodneyfranks2726]

Actually this is a practical video to show how geothermal works. Thanks for posting

[@lukeFugate]

Glad you liked it!

[@jerryguerra348]

Well its been over 2 years sense you posted this video. Im not as interested in the cooling system but the well maintenance and security. As a 40 year water well worker/driller I get concerned when people are not safe around wells. May I suggest you add a riser to the well casing. A riser is a pipe the same size as the casing pipe. The casing pipe is the pipe in the ground and holds the ground from caving in on the well. The riser should come up 2 to 3 feet above the ground. And it should have a cap on it to prevent animals and trash from entering the well. You can use a PVC pipe for the riser. Adding a riser will help prevent mice and other animals and trash from entering the well. It will help keep your well clean. It will also make it safer for young children. So they won't fall in the well.

[@93chevy93]

People like this contaminate ground water and don't know the impact it could have leaving wells open

[@kwhitney22]

I would open the well up more so people can look at it in ahh and ooooh, safty pshhhhh if saftey is a concern I suggest we ban cars more ppl die from cars than falling in Wells lol

[@kwhitney22]

Jk I don't think exposing the well is a good idea I bet sand would get in along with leafs and that's gross

[@MrSteewped]

As I agree with the contamination factor I don't think many peoples kids will fit in a 4in pipe

[@jerryguerra348]

@@MrSteewped it only takes 1 leg to fall in the hole to break a leg, or ankle, or foot, hip, ect. ..

[@IRONMANMETALBILLDANKANIS]

I watched another video about those big fans. You should put a piece of cardboard and cover half of the intake opening. They are designed to push air through vents under a lot of restrictions. Put the cardboard on and you'll notice how much more air comes out. I don't know if it's double but it might be close.

[@LibertyDIY]

Good experiment. If you had a pressure tank hooked up, you could use the submersible well pump to fill and pressurize the tank automatically whenever you call for cooling. It would only rarely kick on and would use negligible amount of electricity overall. Then add a ball valve to slowly feed the water from the tank through the coil. After the water makes its way through the coil you could discharge it into a gray water drain or maybe back into the well. If you use a DC fan you could vary the speed so that you get good condensation on the coil without using too much fan power and that alone would increase comfort. It seems like your fan was at a good speed though since you were getting condensation.

[@johnwyman6126]

It takes a lot of electricity to raise water up in elevation, but it takes very little electricity just to circulate the water.

[@1foxtrot70]

Yes, dropping the phone down the well is "Murphy's Law" rearing it's head. It is funny but painfully so... LOL

[@donaldsmith3048]

you can use a evaperation cooler to cool the water to run that to your cooler.

[@robertkubrick3738]

That's what a chill water system does.

[@daisukimarshal2325]

wow this is awesome you can have your very own geothermal energy in your own backyard.. this is amazing..

[@rastlach]

Heya, just a thought. If the spring/ground water level is not of concern then you would still be better off drawing the water out from the well and then dumping it down hill from where the well is. That way you are not introducing the heated water from the cooling unit back into the well itself. Even better would be if you had a section of land that was lower than the draw level from the well as you wouldn't even need a pump to move the water just use a syphon :) also you need a fan that has the motor separated from the air draw so you dont go adding the heat from the motor to the whole system. However I am sure I am just talking shit right now so, fantastic work and great to see the innovator in people.

[@lukeFugate]

I like the siphon idea. I ended up last year using two car radiators, one in the creek and the other on my furnace air return. I used the same pump in the video to pump water through. It worked well. I never made a video of it, but I'm planning to set it up again soon if I ever get time.

[@tombouie]

I'm getting ready to the same thing except from a tank full of water underground. You beat me to it. Great job, TomB retired physicist PS: I hope you become a scientist because you're a natural.

[@lukeFugate]

Thanks!

[@worthvilleminimart]

Did you ever do your tank and if so how is it working, depth, gallons, size of space cooled... Thanks

[@tombouie]

@@worthvilleminimart well the short answer is nope because I'm soooooooo very busy. But I simple plan to diy a hole for a 275 gallon platic IBC tote ; Run rain gutter water to it ; Run a pair of hoses to it ; Bury it ; Hook the pair of hoses to a car radiator with fan on it ; Circulate water thru the car radiator ; & Cool my shed. The water should be about 58 degF out the ground & water has lots of thermo mass. An A/C on gets only down to 40 degF (any lower & condensation will freeze up). It would seem A/C is a con-game. We'll see though. Links that might be of interest: easy DIY geothermal cooling system. kzbin.info/www/bejne/on_ElKSmnJlqars Geothermal diy #1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/in-vo52Dn753atU Geothermal: How to DIY for cheap! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jImrmGZshNt-fLc Cheap Geothermal Heater Part 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGOnp4CdfKxkaM0 GeoThermal Solar Air Conditioning Part 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYDbn31reciYm7c Geothermal Energy Options - How It Works kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6ebk4d3fNdjqrc Vertical Geothermal Earth Tube (Part 2) - Greenhouse Heating/Cooling kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZnQp3xvipZ-h6s Did Geothermal Heating work for Greenhouse 2.0? (Part 2) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKWzl4iva7llgMU Shallow Well Dig with Hand Auger kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGO9maqkmb-lhMU Earth tubes as heat exchanger for geothermal ventilation / AC / cooling and heating passive house kzbin.info/www/bejne/omXRfqZ-pqiHm6s Heat Storage for Solar Hot Air Systems Using Concrete Blocks www.brighthub.com/environment/renewable-energy/articles/89823.aspx Rainwater storage (ferrous concrete or 275 Gallon Caged Plastic Tank / IBC Tote), Building A Rain Catchment System - Part 1 The Foundation kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4mwZJ2Lfttqb9U

[@rinjosecheeran1152]

@@tombouie that's one hell of a useful post mate. thanks.

[@Cobizybone]

@@tombouie Thanks for links. BTW, IBCs can't be buried, at least in porous soil or sand. They will be crushed. Clay or stone might work.

[@DanBurgaud]

there is no compressor or anything? WOW! that was so simple! awesome!

[@lukeFugate]

Nothing but a pump and a fan. My version I use in my cabin doesn't even need a pump.

[@1framistan]

@k johnson I am not the author of the video (geothermal AC), but the reason to NOT use a compressor is because of the cost of electricity. My compressor uses 3000 watts of electricity. The system this guy has uses maybe 3 or 4 hundred watts. The air conditioner is the biggest power hungry system in the home.

[@1framistan]

I did EXTENSIVE experiments of the sort you did. Here are some of my results: I discovered the water temperature about 20 feet underground is about 60 degrees F. Going deeper does not get any lower temperature. I live in the middle of the USA. If someone lives far NORTH they might get 50F water. Someone living in Florida or texas... it would be about 70F. Another thing is that water is EXTREMELY easy to circulate because the pump does not have to LIFT the water.... as you mentioned in your video. I also figured out that it is better to build your system with 2 water buckets at the TOP of the system. Then just put a submersible pump inside one of the buckets. Pump the water UP and out to the other bucket of water. The pump only LIFTS the water up about one foot to the other bucket. NOW... if there are any air bubbles in your pipes, they will not get in the pump. The air bubble just rises up and out of the bucket. You could use a TINY pump from a little water fountain. They only use about less than HALF an ampere! A smaller squirrel cage fan would blow plenty of air with lots less electricity used. Your squirrel cage blower looks rather large, it would use more amps. You can read more about my system on the website biblioboard.com You have to sign up, & log in but its FREE also. I have it posted there for FREE to read. It is about 80 pages with lots of pictures. Anyone who wants a copy, just email me and I will send it to you for FREE via Email attachment. My email address is [e-mail] David Mundy from St. Louis, Missouri .....UPDATE... I now live in central florida. The water temperature 8 feet underground here in florida is about 70F.

[@MichaelCarouthGutenTag]

david mundy What is the name of the book?

[@1framistan]

Title of the book is "Experiments in Home Heating and cooling"

[@caseG80]

david mundy I’m interested in cooling is the book or information still available? Thanks

[@chukaofiaeli7787]

Can you please send me your book.. [e-mail]. Im really interested

[@johnle231]

Isn’t this just like a swamp cooler

[@jamewoods3605]

Great idea. Do you plan to use solar panels for power? If so, can you provide an update?

[@OcRefrig]

Very cool !

[@development7620]

Basically any freeze but it holds the cold a lot better

[@johnassal5838]

1) how'd this turn out? 2) that window unit is optimized for a for probably two to three times the temperature difference. You'd probably get better results with one of the newer automotive radiators that come with 12v fans built in. They're meant for much bigger temperature differences too but will have more surface area.

[@lukeFugate]

The well water heated up over just a little while. I ended up using water from the creek pumped through a car radiator and it worked to cool it off pretty good.

[@Blakehx]

Cool project thanks! Do you have an updated video showing the whole system and temp testing? I'd love to see the setup and results!

[@lukeFugate]

I actually changed the design and ran water from a radiator in the creek into the radiator and back down to the one in the creek. It worked better for long-term use. I never filmed any of it though. The system has since been dismantled so nothing left to show.

[@offgridwanabe]

They now sell a 12 volt dc deep well pump which will run from solar then you could have lots of volume. I like your thinking tho and always experiment it's good for the mind.

[@lukeFugate]

Thanks! I'll have to check that out.

[@mirriulahwaterdog]

Goodonya Luke, I live off grid in outback Aus. I appreciate your efforts and thought about this type of system for a long time but didnt have a well or adequate water then the local shire council put in artesian bore water system to the whole village (about 25 people at Angledool NSW see my rough videos 'Angledool off-grid') and natural pressure meant I didnt need pumps so I put in a Bonaire Durango evaporative cooler to my cabin. It works and doesn't take too much power from the solar system. Since then I've put in your type system using ATV radiators and fan to take the water from the sump of the evap' cooler and use it to cool my battery box it does the job taking the temperature at the height of summer from around 50c to 38c which is a big help to the batteries. Good luck mate.

[@lukeFugate]

Glad to hear your system is working well.

[@allenstephens6404]

That's awesome Luke! great job

[@Chimonger1]

While metal transfers the temp faster, various elements in water can corrode it faster. What about using PEX tubing, which lasts longer, and tolerates freezes? OR, might do what we did, and lay about 60' of 8" ducting on the ground of the crawlspace, put an intake box from the house that holds filters, and a variable speed fan to pull air through the system, and out via vents into our mid-century tract house. This has been helping keep our electric bills a bit lower, for a couple years now...both heating and cooling....our crawlspace holds temps pretty well, averaging about 10F warmer in winter than outdoor ambient air, and averages about 10F cooler than outdoor ambient air, summer. The ducting is sealed, with a Reflectix blanket over it. If it leaks, no damage anywhere. Could probably use the flex-drier duct much more cheaply....we choose to use the regular metal ducting. We also make deeply shaded areas off the south side of the house, for summer, to help hold-down indoor temps.

[@markbroad119]

if you put other coils/radiators in front of where it is sucking in, it will cool that much more.

[@carleeann1988]

Please help me. I'm trying to find the other video you said you would make on the improvements of this one. You have a ton of videos for me to try and go through. Just not computer savvy. Got to figure out cooling problem. It means a lot. Thanks.

[@lukeFugate]

I haven't made the video of the system I used last year. I still have to put it all back together. It will be soon because it's starting to get hot.

[@naveedutp1]

hi , its great, i have few question if you could answer, first your design is way simpler which is great for people like us, i am interested in cooling only, (not heating), now 1. how deep you put tubes inside ground 2. what was your ambient temperature ? 3. what is your room temperature 4. what is outlet temperature of your water coming circulated via ground pipes ? and what was your room temperature becomes after system was running, appreciate your support here

[@lukeFugate]

It works much better when using a fresh water source like a steam or a creek. It would cool the house down for a while, but the water in the well would heat up over time and the cooling was diminished.

[@EA-pp6jn]

Impressive Luke, would like to know what you do for a living other than thinking up great ideas. My guess would be electrician. If you wish to not to reveal that info..... Will no worries. Anyways another great idea, you just added to my knowledge.

[@lukeFugate]

Glad you liked it. I was an electrician when I lived in Texas, but there's just not enough work around here to make ends meet. I ended up getting a job with a road construction company, and have been there almost 11 years now.

[@EA-pp6jn]

@@lukeFugate I was half right,thanks. Good stuff.

[@backhoeprojects9262]

I don't think that is enough water quantity to do much significant cooling my house uses a 1.5 inch line to circulate water to the lake floor and back, The coils in the lake are about 5 groups of 20 rounds approx 100 foot total of 1" pipe under water in the cold area of tubing in 5 different locations to dissipate heat better. The incoming cool water then goes into a heat ex changer where freon then moves even more heat as needed. Geothermal heatpump estimate 50-70 thousand btu capability. Yours i would estimate to be about 1000 btu not sure. Maybe cool a dog house that is about it.

[@lukeFugate]

batman 1999 Like I said in the video, it was just an experiment. What ended up working was a bucket in the creek with a fine screen covering it and a hose leading up to the house coming out of it. The hose went to a small water pump and then to a car radiator. It came out of the radiator and into a drain leading to the creek. I put a fan behind the radiator inside the house and let it circulate. It worked good enough to keep the house cool. I've since went on the grid(my wife got tired of depending on a generator) so now I just run window unit air conditioners.

[@geodezix]

I think you've got a good idea going here. I suggest you follow up running all this in your house -- that's the whole point of all this. Let us know how it goes.

[@ofcv1238]

0:47 😂 phone drop would definitely screw-up job progress & video!

[@mattheweburns]

Don't drop ye phone in there! I'm wanting to try this concept with a creek nearby this summer; however, do you think there could be any hazardous substances or residues left in the radiator/condenser of any significance? Thanks for the video, cheers!

[@lukeFugate]

If you flush out the radiator enough it should be ok. I guess it depends on the type of anti freeze used.

[@aircooledtx]

Theory of ground source water/ with that type coil 5/8" water inlet/outlet with 70* air moving across, cool maybe 200 sq.ft. area. If you got a pump/grundflos/115volt.move water quicker and could keep the loop cooler. Try and find ole wide think horizontal coil or hydronic /coil. they are cheap under 80.00

[@Sport--willow]

Just now saw your video. Wish I would have seen it when ya posted. How did the system work for ya?

[@lukeFugate]

It worked ok. It turned out to be better to use water from the creek to do the same thing. The well water would heat up after a while and it would stop working.

[@Sport--willow]

@@lukeFugate that's really good to hear. Thanks for your reply. How cool was it able to keep the house on hot days after ya got it retrofitted in? I've been kicking the idea around for a while now and hopefully will be able to get something going next spring

[@lukeFugate]

@@Sport--willow on really hot days it would be just cool enough probably about 76 or 77. On normal days it could manage 68.

[@Sport--willow]

@@lukeFugate that's not bad at all. At thay temp everyone is able to escape the extreme heat and stay protected from heat exhaustion or worse. Thank you for sharing the video. It had definitely sent the mind into designing mode. Hopefully come spring I'll be able to get start on a similar system and see what I can come up with.

[@waynemoore5467]

an idea i have and seen which has nothing to do with this type cooling.put a round duct pipe from a outside tree in a shady area.from there run the pipe into your home grill it off and use fan if you wish for summer cool air from outside.basic principle of years ago in cooling before air cond. in office buildings between the walls going up floors.

[@larryhaney6608]

Good job . I just came across this while looking for ideas i'm tring to do the same . Is there any up dates to this .

[@michaelyoung1892]

so you're displacing to heat from the air into the ground. But you're displacing that heat diretly into the ground. So does it work only for a wile until the ground heats up? or is the thermal mass enough to dissipate the heat where the unit can be used to cool air 27/7?

[@lukeFugate]

It will transfer the thermal energy into the ground warming up the well. It did eventually heat up the water enough to reduce its efficiency. The best way I found to do this was to pump cool water from the creek through a car radiator in the house and back into the creek. it stayed a constant temperature because you were always getting fresh water flowing through.

[@johnwyman6126]

Which planet do you live on that has a 27 hour day?

[@richardisdorky7411]

I was thinking of doing something similar with my swimming pool. I figured heat the pool and cool my house at the same time. So how'd it work out for you?

[@lukeFugate]

***** Worked ok. my fan uses a lot of power for my battery bank and inverter so it has to run intermittantly. but compared to a conventional unit its not bad. The pool idea sounds good, kind of a two for one deal.

[@viralvideo171]

+luke Fugate how DD you go about buying land??

[@lukeFugate]

Viral Video It was inherited. It's been in my family for a long time.

[@koreymayo8884]

unless you live in a dry climate you will create a mold and moisture problem in your home from the condensation and the air should be blowing out about 30 degrees colder than 73. And you will rapidly rust those coils without filtering the water and neutralizing the ph of the water

[@aarontuplin]

He was getting condensation on the coils, so it's mitigating moisture

[@johnwyman6331]

Rapidly rust copper coils in a closed loop system?

[@manningcustom]

condensation from your radiator? Where does that water go?

[@lukeFugate]

in my cabin I used a little different setup. The condensation drains through a hose outside.

[@Greenwashedhipppie]

You can pump water up really cheaply with a diy air lift pump.

[@jtbro7644]

How are you useing this system to cool large room. How well does it work

[@lukeFugate]

I used this for a little while, but found the water in the well heated up pretty fast.

[@hershchat]

Very cool. Can you tell us what happened- did it work out for you?

[@lukeFugate]

It worked ok but after a while of re-circulating the water, it would start to heat up and lose effectiveness. I ended up running hoses from the creek up to the house and ran the pump to run the cool water from the creek through a car radiator. It worked well for the whole summer.

[@hershchat]

Got it. Thanks.

[@hershchat]

I will build one. Here is the calculations. A 600 sq ft room with 2 blokes will need 20,000 kJ cooling. You need 200 gallon water to take that heat down by 10 deg C. The tap water is at 15 deg and my room at 35. So I have the needed 20 degree gradient. Water moved heat 20x faster than air. So, if I had a 40 cfm 12 W fan (itty bitty thang), I’ll need 1 cfm water pump. 1 cfm is 7.5 gpm. Another itty bitty thang. Together 25 W. Once I get flow rates right, it should take a 40 cfm fan 2.5 hours to exchange 6,000 cubic feet air over the copper coils. Right? If I am not missing something, this will be a $7/month way to cool a 20,000 btu (1.7 ton) space. Maybe I’ll solve world hunger next.

[@jimwilliams4532]

@@lukeFugate Great solution. I was thinking you needed more surface area than just your copper tube or maybe a tank of water like some have proposed so you have a constant reservoir of chilled water underground. Nice work!

[@al5ayyal911]

I have 2 radiators, one will go down a concrete underground water tank and the other will be inside the house with fan blowing through it. I wont calculate simply cuz I dont know what I am doing & 5 meters below earth should have cool temp. It reaches 50 deg celcius in the Middle East :/

[@lukeFugate]

Sounds like it should work. Just a small water pump should be all you need to get the water to circulate through the system.

[@miguelarturopalomaresruiz]

for liquid heatsink isn't better to use copper or silicon for heat transfer ?

[@lukeFugate]

copper is much better at conducting heat.

[@johnwyman6126]

He did use copper.

[@geofftsjy]

When Blue Collar Comedy Tour Meets Bill Nye: Larry the Science Guy...

[@lukeFugate]

I guess so.

[@AaronPowellvox]

genius

[@jimmartin7899]

Put in a underground cistern with a nitrogen rocket air conditioner and draft your house. It will give you cold running water. Your mass underground rocket stove would give you heat and hot water. Hell even drinking water or Grey water for a green house! ; )

[@paladino444]

Thanks for posting your idea. There has already been posted some good suggestions but I also thought I might be able to add to the discussion constructively. Taking a few meters of copper and placing it in the well will probably produce some cooling effect but your length of cooling coil seems extremely short for cooling anything more than a hamster cage ...no disprespect intended. Another aspect is how far down into the well water you place your tubing and how much standing water / cubic meters of water held in the well. Remember that most heat on this planet wants to rise towards space which is very cold thus the heat sinked in the well water will invariably rise to the upper surface of the well water until it can rise out of the well or some being absorbed into the surrounding ground but probably not that much. This will greatly effect the success of your experiment. So my two suggestions are use more tubing [commerical heat exchangers for a house may use a 1000 ft min. of tubing in-ground] for more surface area heat exchange and get the coil as far down the well as you can so as to provide more exchange area below whatever heat that will iinvariably collect higher up in the well water trying to escape through a very small surface area. Since you are using materials that will degrade and leak within a few dozen months at tops I can't recommend you try anything but water in your exchanger as otherwise you will end up contaminating your well.

[@johnwyman6126]

Everything you just said would be true if groundwater was still. But it's not, it's flowing, like a slow underground river. It just has to be fast enough to remove the amount of heat that you're trying to put into it.

[@mjmorro7757]

A 12v DC Swamp Cooler?? Hook a solar panel to the battery and you'd have free AC!! Question, if you put the warmer water back into the well, does that mean you will lose your cool? ;-)

[@lukeFugate]

It turns out that drawing water from the creek and running it through a radiator was quite a bit more effective.

[@avarkirec819]

wfm ?

[@daisukimarshal2325]

this is one way to get start saving money and energy..

[@utubeaccess7]

Maybe, maybe not. An 11 SEER 5k BTU window A/C unit uses about 400Watts running at full load, while that blower might very well use that or more by itself, plus the water pump at 12V x 3 or 4A =36-48W additional. Just something to consider.

[@AngelLestat2]

Not sure if you notice, but you have a bit of issue with the noise in the system. If you listen carefully, you will not be able to listen anymore XD Joke aside, I would have love some data on the well temperature, coil temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, etc.

[@lukeFugate]

This was just a proof of concept experiment. I have since improved the design. I now have a gravity-fed system that uses no pump, but just the natural flow of water from a spring running through a car air conditioner condenser and I used a box fan for a blower. Here is a link to that video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJbdmoWln8Rrjs0

[@larrypnh]

Why do you run the water into that blue tank? Can't you connect together and run in a closed loop?

[@lukeFugate]

That was what was intended but the hose had a couple of leaks in it and the pump kept losing its prime so I used the tank to hold extra water to make up for the leak. I didn't want to spend any money on it since it was just an experiment so I used what I had. To do it right you would buy all new materials so there would be no leaks, then it would be a closed loop.

[@palletman2191]

If you use this as a water source open loop system, it will give some benefit. But, it will not work as a closed loop system if you return the water to the same well. There is just not enough BTU transfer to the soil surrounding the well pipe. You would need a few hundred feet of such closed loop system to get the benefit you are looking for.

[@annahaney7221]

*Find out how you can build a cost free energyyyy generatorrrrrr>>>**renewableenergyy.blogspot.fr** >>>*

[@jimships]

get an infrared temperature gauge at Harbor Freight to measure what's going on.

[@ronsphar4827]

Since your so educated......you obviously know that ir thermometers read surface temperature ......not air temperature. Right?

[@creektilghman9187]

You need to make some changes. Check Avasva Solutions if you want to make it right.

[@Niko-ht3ih]

Awes😊me

[@volador2828]

Use a geyser pump!

[@samsngdevice5103]

This guy has a unique set of skills you rarely see anywhere. He has the ability to think completely outside the box and overcome challenge while eliminating the high cost of achieving comfort we humans seek. What's important is that he has demonstrated his ideas with out comprising safety. He is not wreckless, careless or dangerous. I have seen other bird brained videos that are so dangerous in design i can only pray no one takes them seriously.

[@lukeFugate]

Thank you! I appreciate it.

[@glenng2282]

This guy is very dangerous and is compromising the well. Geothermal requires closed loop for this reason!

[@TheEdiphone]

your check valve is what killed your pump and pressure switch or made it so money hungry and it is your best investment on any well or fluid system it kept your pump from having to keep lifting water all the time and two are better than one and gravity holding tanks and bilge pumps or windshield washer pumps make good transfer fumps also automotive fuel pumps low draw high output up to 120 psi for some and easy to find for free or a small fee from salvage yard while yur there grab a couple radiators one in one out side and connect em to the pump then each other fill er up n let her rip

[@samsngdevice5103]

Hah! I totally get this invention. Free cooling from mother earth. Humor; If Mother earth were really a person, woman, etc, she likely would want to breast feed your INGENIOUS mind.

[@edywolfe4625]

West Virginia?

[@lukeFugate]

Edy Wolfe Kentucky.

[@jimwilliams4532]

In WV we use swamp coolers until we run out of ice

[@development7620]

Look up glycol systems try using that instead of water

[@bradley3549]

Glycol actually has a lower heat capacity than straight water. Unless you need the freeze protection, it's actually preferable to use pure water (or water with a 'wetting' agent) for any heat transfer purposes.

[@juliocorrea2434]

Yo pop use a small freezer make a radiator off a PVC 3 inches stick it in there one bringing the air inside through that pipe radiator and one coming out from the freezer going to the house you could use your blower or you could use a small fan believe me you're not going to regret that because right now you using energy for the pump and you using energy for the blower so you going to come out almost even so what you going to do is very simple the door of the freezer doesn't have no lines so you can make two holes one is going to go out to the house the other one is it going to be for a pipe to suck air now because the freezer it's going to be close all the time you going to put some water not filling it up just some water so you'll get ice maybe 2 inches or 1 inch that water is going to get Frozen what's going to happen is the pipe that goes to the house it's going to have a fan and it's going to suck the air cold air to the house and the pipe that is breathing air it's going to breathe air all the time and it's going to be real cold air now you are going to hook up the 3-inch pipe or 4-inch pipe whatever you decide to use to the blower and you probably say how I'm going to hook it up use a 5-gallon bucket make a hole on the bottom a 4 in Ford 3 in and hook it up to the duck if I were you I wouldn't use the blower I will use a small fan maybe at 12 bolt fan with high enough speed to circulate good air take care my friend it's nice to see people trying to beat the system persistent sucks when it comes to air conditioner it's very expensive check geothermal Heating and Cooling that will give you a good start God bless you my friend

[@lukeFugate]

Thank you.

[@dus10dnd]

That isn't going to do much. How geothermal systems work [effectively] is that they still use a refrigerant that is superheated/subcooled. Instead of having an outdoor coil that is returned the ambient temperature outdoors (which becomes less efficient as outdoor temperatures reach extremes), it uses the consistent temperature under the ground to return refrigerant to an ambient temperature. When cooling, a geothermal heat much should have the indoor coil approaching freezing (subcooling); while heating the indoor coil should be over 90F (superheating). Having something that is about 55F all of the time... is going to be limited.

[@lukeFugate]

This one didn't do much, but for another reason. The water in the well is limited, and heats up within about an hour. I used a similar idea, but used the water from the creek. I plumbed it through an old car radiator with a blower behind it. I put it in the window on the shady side of the house and opened the window on the other side. The constant flow of 55 degree air was enough to keep us comfortable in most temperatures. In fact at 80-85 degrees outside we would turn off the water pump occasionally, because it cools too much. I should have had it on a thermostat, but never got around to it. Anything over 95 is a struggle and it just keeps it on the high side of comfortable. You are right, it isn't as good as a big AC unit, and has to basically flow through the house instead of recycling the air. It does work though.

[@dus10dnd]

@@lukeFugate I have been toying with the idea of filling a cistern with something inert, like mineral oil, to use as a sink for energy.

[@mikep9991]

Cool idea... Seem a little dangerous though!

[@lukeFugate]

I never had this set up permanently. I changed my design and used water from a natural spring, which works a lot better and doesn't require a pump.

[@johnwyman6126]

Dangerous? What do you mean dangerous? Just because he's not wearing a hard hat and a safety vest doesn't mean it's dangerous. He's using safe 12 volts for electricity and non-toxic water for the working fluid under almost no pressure the absolute opposite of what you are probably using with some sort of air conditioning.

[@jerrywhidby.]

Ram pump

[@Gold17]

I’m sure y’all checked all that for gold before y’all field it in.

[@lukeFugate]

Not really. I don't think theres much gold around here.

[@donalegrand3553]

You need 100 time the tubing you are using. If it was that easy, everyone with a well would do it.

[@lukeFugate]

Very true, If I had more tubing it would help tremendously.

[@JodBronson]

That's just to show you guys that NOTHING is FREE !!!

[@drakianus]

look up Peterson pump or ram pump, easy to make no power needed

[@JD_Mortal]

What you need to do is use a cheap, low power AC window unit in the setup. You find the "hot line", and wrap two thin copper tubes around the hot line. (Two, for more "flow".) You take the super-heated AC temps and assist the cooling that is normally managed by the radiator alone. The majority of the heat going into the well water, where it should be "flowing away", replaced with cool water. (Still using your loop, obviously. But a deeper well would be better. Also, you want the line with the hot water going "down into the well", to be insulated. Otherwise you are going to pull out the heat that you are trying to "wash away", before it can be washed away.) Your AC should make freezing cold air, as opposed to "real cold air". Thus, it should cool the house faster and spend more time "off". Or, a tiny AC will be able to cool-off a much larger room... Or the whole house. The trick is to push as much heat into the ground as possible, so it flows away and less power is used to do that process. If you use a tiny pump for water and a large blower-fan... You may be making more heat and using more power to get marginal cooling that could be achieved by simply blowing a tiny free-air, energy efficient fan would provide. Window AC units are being made smarter now. They use one motor for both the blowers, inside and outside, keeping the hot motor outside the house. Unlike central AC units, that have the hot blower fan running inside the house, making almost as much heat as the AC is making for cold air.

[@lukeFugate]

Thanks for the info. Very helpful.

[@sorryplease5071]

The trick with geothermal is that the heating/cooling is passive. The only energy expended should be pushing air through the coils. This can be greatly augmented with a heat pump design.

[@lukeFugate]

I hadn't done much more with it but there is a lot of potential.

[@johnwyman6126]

Heat pumps use an incredible amount of electricity, thousands of Watts, to power a compressor using Brute Force to compress gaseous refrigerant into a liquid under very, very high pressures which then goes through an orifice and then expands absorbing Heat in the process. All of this electricity, expensive equipment, and ozone-depleting chemicals just to move Heat from one place to another. This video is a very intelligent way of moving Heat from one place to another using an extremely small amount of electricity, probably less than 50 Watts, and very common very low-cost equipment. It also uses water as a working fluid that has no environmental impact whatsoever.

[@11Hourr]

your pump is loud

[@lukeFugate]

Yeah, it didn't last long after this experiment.

[@jimships]

Couple of things. Increase the contact surface area with the water in the well by coiling or changing the amount of contact or changing the design of the contact coil. You might also consider slowing down the speed of the air going through the radiator coil to increase the delta T across the coil. These approaches work best when you can apply a fluid made for heat transfer, like glycol. You can also slowdown the flow in the pipes by increasing the size of the pipes. Good luck.

[@bloodytosser1]

+jimships FYI, thermal efficiency is reduced the higher the glycol concentration.

[@jimships]

+bloodytosser1 your correct

[@creektilghman9187]

i made it too. just used InpliX instructions.

[@pierredemare609]

@ Peter: when one speaks and listens, no one gets confused. Why? Because "correct" is not a noun., so your for you're is not a major impediment to effective communication as some would lead us to believe. But, you're correct, if that matters at all.

[@glenng2282]

Not sure where you are from, but in the USA that is extremely illegal what you are doing. In addition of your neighbors health you are compromising. Well contamination!!!!!

[@lukeFugate]

There is no contamination unless having copper pipe in a water well will contaminate it. The copper pipe that I used is meant for plumbing it is not poisonous. People use it to run water lines in their homes. The water in the copper pipe never comes into contact with the water in the well. There are no neighbors on this water supply. No one wants to use this type of water anymore as it is sulfur water. Everyone in this area drill quite a bit deeper to get better water. No houses are located anywhere near where I am anyway. All that being said I don't actually use this system. It was just an experiment. The geothermal cooling I use now relies on a stream that naturally flows by a cabin I built. The well in the video has been capped off from the date of the video and never used again because of the sulfur in the water.

[@glenng2282]

@@lukeFugate as a licensed HVAC master who installed the first 11 geothermal systems in the State of Maryland, we had EPA challenges with using only closed loops in a well. Copper with water that has an unbalanced ph level will cause issues. Pulling water from a well and changing temperature and returning to the well is a violation. Not going to get into all the issues. Seeing the video sounded so many alarms with me I had to say something for the health and well being of all. Some people see things on you tube and copy it not understand the consequences of their actions.

[@lukeFugate]

Thanks for the information. Glad I don't use that system, wasn't aware copper would have any effect.

[@stevethompson1488]

​@@lukeFugateridicules..... Copper has to be heated or Electrified to become a Colloid and the amount Is so small It does Not matter only to a fool

[@jacobadam4556]

if i set something that looks like that in the house my wife would slap the shit out of me

[@lukeFugate]

lol

[@annamiller5295]

wearemicronesiaa

[@davisx2002]

72 degree air on a 90 degree day, and you are making fresh water...Proof of concept.

[@lukeFugate]

Thanks! It did work for a while but it heated up the water in the well over time and lost effectiveness. I went with a different design in my off grid cabin and it works much better. Here is a link kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJbdmoWln8Rrjs0

[@br3ntst3wart]

🤦‍♂️

[@justNsaneVWS1]

Thats a diy swamp cooler using air conditioner parts. Lmao!

[@braveonethanks3535]

Get some shit that works

[@Capturing-Memories]

Water is the wrong refrigerant for reasons that are beyond your comprehension, HVAC is a complicated subject for an average Joe to be designing a system from scratches. It can be taught though if want to go back to school.

[@NextGenerationHealth]

Wow! Thoughtless! Get that thing covered. How many unsuspecting small animals have died from your thoughtlessness?

[@lukeFugate]

None, I'm sure. I would have seen them fall in while I was working on it. Why would you assume I left it open? I said in the video it was just an experiment. Just because I didn't record myself putting the cap on doesn't mean it didn't happen. I guess You are the thoughtless one for not having thought of that!

[@jimwilliams4532]

Not enough! In the three years since your comment the good folks of Australia have learned all too well what small animals are capable of doing. He doesn't look like he is in an area with an endangered species small enough even if he kept the well open Richard.

[@BluntForceTrauma666]

At _least_ dude was smart enough to use copper pipe for his heat exchanger. These days, it's so common to see dipshits doing this kind of thing and use *plastic* pipe. Which WILL work, but if you're going to do it, then do it CORRECTLY. Also, freeze frame at 0:39 on the view of the well. Is that the shed skin of a snake, at the very bottom of the frame, in the middle??

[@lukeFugate]

I actually did my ac completely different than the video, this was just an experiment. It was in the summer so it was my work season and I just never had time to film the new setup. I took it down for the winter but I'll be putting it back up soon, and Ill make a video of it. It is two car radiators, one in the creek and the other in the furnace air return. Works very well. lol the thing at the bottom of the screen you're referring to is a piece of the rope that I use to pull the well pump.

[@omerwahed]

You need some education first.

[@lukeFugate]

+Abdul Hassan What do you mean? Why do you assume I am uneducated? I have an electronics degree, but that had nothing to do with this. This was an experiment that was successful and met the require goals.

[@Rich_ard]

+luke Fugate he likely made a ignorant assumption because of your accent. because we southerners can't be educated.

[@fortj3]

Yep. Because we're all a bunch of stewpid hicks. Duh-huh, duh-huh, duh-huh. We'd sound so much smarter (dripping with sarcasm) if we all sounded like a bunch of New Yorkers.

[@HerminiePA]

I believe he did a great first run. Obviously, after a few hours, the science will become obvious and then the heat sink can be expanded. Later, depending on need, he can add a condenser-evaporator combination. But there is NOTHING ignorant about this unless he gives up when the science kicks in.

[@Peek4pony]

Luke: F*** Certified Construction. You are a smart and inventive guy for sure. I love videos where guys experiment like this without all expensive equipment. Your video has inspired me to try and do something similar !! THanks !!!!

[@bigphillyed]

You accomplished ZERO, the pump still has to push head pressure. That pump will not last long at all. This is what happens when Ted necks get stupid ideas.

[@lukeFugate]

I accomplished a lot. I guess you didn't hear the part where I said it was just an experiment. I guess that's what happens when stereotypical city slickers skip through a video without watching it. I have it working now in my cabin with no pump at all only using enough power to run a box fan. Don't believe me? Here it is. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJbdmoWln8Rrjs0

[@jimwilliams4532]

This is what happens when angry people comment from their mother's basement!

[@bigphillyed]

@@jimwilliams4532 hahaha mommys basement. You think you're funny but you aren't in the least bit. Listen stop trying to be a keyboard tough guy, it doesn't fit at all. When someone speaks the truth you get triggered. Listen here little boy, you be quiet while the big people have a discussion.

[@jimwilliams4532]

@@bigphillyed Bring it! Anytime! You better get on here treadmill fatass! Check that! It won't help. You'll be out before you get winded!

[@stevethompson1488]

​@@jimwilliams4532No the truly evil ones are Not living In Their Mothers basement, they become politicians making stupid laws