Natural home cooling

[Nitack]

OK, as I said, not ready to give up on this idea yet. Very good points have come up about air quality, and I am not willing to sacrifice any degree of quality that may lead to illness form mold, fungi, or bacteria. So, rather than running the air underground, I have come up with a two phase system. Despite the increased complexity, we may actually find a more efficient system because the first phase will use water rather than air.

 

The system goes like this. We will still lay pipe below ground in order to act as a heat sink, however the pipe will be filled with water. It will be circulated using a small pump. As we really only need a very minor current in the pipe, this can be a very small pump. That system will be closed loop. At one point, that system will lead INTO the existing duct. While the majority of the loop will be PVC pipe underground, the portion of the loop inside the vent will probably be a radiator coil like you find on the back of refrigerators. The ducts will be slightly modified (I really only have to block off one piece of duct) so that they form a tunnel from one upper level air return to the other, with the chilled coil in the center. Install a fan at the air return closest to our living spaces that will pull air through the duct, and we have very low power air conditioning. If I use a DC pump and fan, and connect them to a solar panel we have no power AC. New diagram included.

 

Thoughts?

[lawcat]

I am not aware of any DC fans with 1500-2000 CFM output. This means that you will need AC converter. In addition, on the second heat sinks, metal pipes are recommended, because they conduct heat better. You should have: 1.5-2 gallons per minute of flow in water pipes, per ton of air conditioning (1" pipe for 5 ton system, at 5ft/100 pressure drop); 1 ton of airconditioning per 500 sq. ft. of house; 400 CFM per ton of air conditioning. Do not forget a filter in the duct.