EcoRenovator - View Single Post - Standing Column Well with Horizontal Loop Return

EcoInPA · 05-16-14, 02:39 PM

Hi,

I'm brand new to the forum and am very interested in a DIY Geothermal install in central PA. I've read many of the threads here and am currently working my way through the Homemade Manifesto thread (which looks like a great thread), but am in a little bit of a crunch to determine what I'm going to do for my outside loop.

What prompted this project was being forced onto the public water supply and basically abandoning my current standing column well for anything but outdoor use/irrigation/etc. I just can't stomach leaving that much available heat/cooling energy just sitting in the ground. I was thinking of a simple open loop system using the same well for both pump and dump.

However, the current well is only about 150' deep with roughly 100' of standing water which from all the estimates I can find should support a 1 ton SCW install. I'd like to try to extend that to 2 to 2.5 ton by adding some horizontal loop on the water return line by utilizing the trenching I'm going to have to do to install the new water line for the public water system, plus possibly an addtional trench or two. I am able to dig my own trenches using a backhoe I have, but I am however limited in overall space to put in the trenches, hence the reuse of the trench I'm going to have to dig anyway. Overall I can probably manage 200' or so of trench. And in the spring/summer/fall there will be some added bleed off of the water for outside use, that will help regulate the temperature with fresh water as the well replenishes.

Is this feasible to use a horizontal return loop to bring the water temperature somewhat back to ground temperature before return to the well? What would the best pipe for the return be (other than the obvious of copper)?

From a pumping standpoint, I get roughly 8-10 gpm from the existing pump and bladder tank, but am concerned about the added length of pushing the exit water through the new loop. I was thinking I could have the outside loop continuously slop down slightly so once the water was out of the house again, gravity would take over. Should I use a slinky configuration for this or just a straight pipe to be able to keep the downward pitch consistent?

If I can come up with a good inexpensive field design in the next couple weeks I think I can incorporate the two efforts at once for the outside work. Any thoughts/feedback/help would be greatly appreciated.

05-16-14, 02:39 PM	#1
EcoInPA Lurking Renovator Join Date: May 2014 Location: Central PA Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Standing Column Well with Horizontal Loop Return Hi, I'm brand new to the forum and am very interested in a DIY Geothermal install in central PA. I've read many of the threads here and am currently working my way through the Homemade Manifesto thread (which looks like a great thread), but am in a little bit of a crunch to determine what I'm going to do for my outside loop. What prompted this project was being forced onto the public water supply and basically abandoning my current standing column well for anything but outdoor use/irrigation/etc. I just can't stomach leaving that much available heat/cooling energy just sitting in the ground. I was thinking of a simple open loop system using the same well for both pump and dump. However, the current well is only about 150' deep with roughly 100' of standing water which from all the estimates I can find should support a 1 ton SCW install. I'd like to try to extend that to 2 to 2.5 ton by adding some horizontal loop on the water return line by utilizing the trenching I'm going to have to do to install the new water line for the public water system, plus possibly an addtional trench or two. I am able to dig my own trenches using a backhoe I have, but I am however limited in overall space to put in the trenches, hence the reuse of the trench I'm going to have to dig anyway. Overall I can probably manage 200' or so of trench. And in the spring/summer/fall there will be some added bleed off of the water for outside use, that will help regulate the temperature with fresh water as the well replenishes. Is this feasible to use a horizontal return loop to bring the water temperature somewhat back to ground temperature before return to the well? What would the best pipe for the return be (other than the obvious of copper)? From a pumping standpoint, I get roughly 8-10 gpm from the existing pump and bladder tank, but am concerned about the added length of pushing the exit water through the new loop. I was thinking I could have the outside loop continuously slop down slightly so once the water was out of the house again, gravity would take over. Should I use a slinky configuration for this or just a straight pipe to be able to keep the downward pitch consistent? If I can come up with a good inexpensive field design in the next couple weeks I think I can incorporate the two efforts at once for the outside work. Any thoughts/feedback/help would be greatly appreciated.