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osolemio · 12-03-10, 03:41 PM

These are just the reasons why a large mass is required, and a low temperature heating system.

The smaller the heating area, the larger temperature required to heat up a given space.

The higher the temperature of a heat storage, the more heat loss.

A huge mass heated to a lower temperature has only a slight loss, compared to a small mass heated to a higher temperature.

Imagine 1000s of cubic feet of clay or earth, below your existing (or new) house. This has a certain temperature, typically quite constant year round, in the order of 40 to 55 F. Older houses might not be that well insulated downward, modern houses should be well insulated in all directions, also below the floor.

All summer, there is lots of excess solar heat, but no-where to use it. Even if you heated several thousand of gallons of water to boiling, it would not last very long into the fall. And it would not take long time until it would be "fully charged".

But try to heat up the earth below your house, down to 10 or 15 feet, using pipes "shot" into the clay/earth/sand below it. Dig down and insulate on the sides, sloping downwards somewhat. You now have yourself a massive heat storage. It will take all summer to heat it. But imagine, your solar panels all summer heat a little hot water, and for the rest, they just dissipate excess heat back into the air. Unless you have that earth under your house, to cool it off. THAT is where you LONG TERM STORE heat, from all of summer, long into the fall and even winter.

The clay will not conduct the heat so readily - which is fine! Because s l o w l y is the keyword here. Forget huge water tanks. You just need a "small" one of a a few thousand gallons, to keep heat for some days, overnight and until you can have it absorbed into the ground.

This technique is already known, but in a more simple setup, if you search the net for "annual geo solar" or similar. It is simply has such a huge potential for using solar heating to a further extent, a whole new level. But to work fully, you should really have underfloor heating as much as possible, or even partial wall heating as well. Heat up as much of the house to 70-80 F in the coldest of winter, and you won't need the low-area, high temp radiators at all.

When I finish this project, and prove that it works, I really need to make a graphic video to show it with pictures, rather than words.

12-03-10, 03:41 PM	#5
osolemio Hong Kong Join Date: May 2010 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 108 Thanks: 20 Thanked 17 Times in 13 Posts	These are just the reasons why a large mass is required, and a low temperature heating system. The smaller the heating area, the larger temperature required to heat up a given space. The higher the temperature of a heat storage, the more heat loss. A huge mass heated to a lower temperature has only a slight loss, compared to a small mass heated to a higher temperature. Imagine 1000s of cubic feet of clay or earth, below your existing (or new) house. This has a certain temperature, typically quite constant year round, in the order of 40 to 55 F. Older houses might not be that well insulated downward, modern houses should be well insulated in all directions, also below the floor. All summer, there is lots of excess solar heat, but no-where to use it. Even if you heated several thousand of gallons of water to boiling, it would not last very long into the fall. And it would not take long time until it would be "fully charged". But try to heat up the earth below your house, down to 10 or 15 feet, using pipes "shot" into the clay/earth/sand below it. Dig down and insulate on the sides, sloping downwards somewhat. You now have yourself a massive heat storage. It will take all summer to heat it. But imagine, your solar panels all summer heat a little hot water, and for the rest, they just dissipate excess heat back into the air. Unless you have that earth under your house, to cool it off. THAT is where you LONG TERM STORE heat, from all of summer, long into the fall and even winter. The clay will not conduct the heat so readily - which is fine! Because s l o w l y is the keyword here. Forget huge water tanks. You just need a "small" one of a a few thousand gallons, to keep heat for some days, overnight and until you can have it absorbed into the ground. This technique is already known, but in a more simple setup, if you search the net for "annual geo solar" or similar. It is simply has such a huge potential for using solar heating to a further extent, a whole new level. But to work fully, you should really have underfloor heating as much as possible, or even partial wall heating as well. Heat up as much of the house to 70-80 F in the coldest of winter, and you won't need the low-area, high temp radiators at all. When I finish this project, and prove that it works, I really need to make a graphic video to show it with pictures, rather than words. __________________ Space heating/cooling and water heating by solar, Annual Geo Solar, drainwater heat recovery, Solar PV (to grid), rainwater recovery and more ... Installing all this in a house from 1980, Copenhagen, Denmark. Living in Hong Kong. Main goal: Developing "Diffuse Light Concentration" technology for solar thermal.