KeepOnTruckin Wrote:
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> Now, I dont completely understand how geothermal
> power is done up, but i realize you get heat from
> the earth. So you put pipes in the ground and they
> get heated up. So the question is how to bury the
> pipes. How deep do they need to be? if it is less
> than 10 feet you can rent a Bobcat up at capital
> rentals w/ backhoe attachement and DIY. That
> shoudnt cost you more than 5k.
It's actually the stability of the Earths temp that is key (I *think* it's around 58F below the frost line). That means, heat can be "pulled" from your home and discharged into the earth via the liquid carrying pipes. Likewise, heat from the pipes (warmed by the Earth) can be much more efficiently extracted. Contrast this to Heat Pumps that most pull heat from the air (essentially useless below freezing) and you can see the comparison.
I recall reading that you have to lay a fair amount of pipe to insure the heat exchange can happen depending upon the size of your home.
Pretty cool technology indeed.
TreeH
Way off topic but did anyone see Microsoft's new Surface Computer?
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html
Make sure you read all 3 pages as there are interesting demos on all of them.