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Old 01-02-19, 06:28 AM   #6
DoctorDoctor
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Colorado
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Thanks for your input. Plastic pipe, both PVC and ABS, is being used for sewage lines. Of course, cast iron is as well and would have better heat transfer characteristics.

As for digging wells, there are of course, places where a 10 foot hole would pose problems but those places would probably pose problems for a slinky trench system. If you go to youtube and search for "shallow well", there are lots of videos (many are very entertaining to see the ingenuity of DIYers).

You are correct about the for a prototype as well. I'm just a geeky guy with little experience in plumbing. My main issue is the question of how to put the center pipe through an end cap so that it doesn't leak. With that question answered, I think that I could make the prototype.

But here is a question for you assuming I can get the plumbing done: Do you know the power requirement for a pump in a slinky trench system? I am assuming that it is significant on a yearly basis. This could be a wrong assumption. The advantage of what I am proposing is less property (surface area) needed - many of us don't have 2 acres or more that seems to be the norm for the slinky systems. But secondly the reduced energy to push the fluid through the pipes. But if this factor isn't that big relative to the power requirement of the heat pump, then the advantage would be less.
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