EcoRenovator - View Single Post - Radiant tubes under newly constructed root cellar

AlanE · 11-01-11, 01:46 AM

I'm under the impression that putting a walk-in freezer where it is surrounded by a heated building envelope (the freezing temperature will migrate into the surrounding home + the warmer living environment will increase the costs of maintaining the freezer temperature) is less efficient than what I'm proposing, that's why I'm interested in isolating the cold food storage area away from the warm living area.

Secondly, I want to work with passive physical processes as much as possible - circulating glycol (needed to prevent the ground under the freezer from freezing solid) dissipates the cold temperature over a larger area - moving very cold glycol from underneath the freezer (20 sf footprint) across a larger area (200-250 sf) and cooling that area to below the ambient underground temperature. An air conditioner with a Coolbot controller involves more energy input and more machinery than a simple pump to circulate the glycol. This approach now requires a process of cooling the root cellar with an air conditioner, dissipating the heat and now there is the added problem of having the freezer sitting smack dab in the middle of the living environment and dealing with the waste heat generated by the freezing machinery.

Walk-in freezers with underfloor systems have to dump that coldness somewhere, I just want to use it by diluting it and chilling a larger area for free.

The heat generated by the freezer's machinery can be isolated from the root cellar by walling off the above-freezer machinery and piping the heat out.

Or so I think. I'm not really up to speed on my laws of thermodynamics - it may very well be that shedding the heat from the freezer unit (a couple of sq ft footprint isolated behind a well insulated box above the freezer) in a room temperature (root cellar) of 34 -55 F is less energy efficient than dealing with a freezer operating at 5 - 10 F sitting smack dab in the middle of a heated 70 F kitchen. What we absolutely want to avoid is having any cold spots from that freezer in the kitchen because we will spend a lot of time in that room and this implies that the insulation on the freezer has to be pretty impressive to isolate a 10 F environment sitting in the middle of a 70 F environment. Secondly, I'd like to minimize the cooling cycles on the unit in order to increase longevity.

11-01-11, 01:46 AM	#3
AlanE Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 91 Thanks: 6 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	I'm under the impression that putting a walk-in freezer where it is surrounded by a heated building envelope (the freezing temperature will migrate into the surrounding home + the warmer living environment will increase the costs of maintaining the freezer temperature) is less efficient than what I'm proposing, that's why I'm interested in isolating the cold food storage area away from the warm living area. Secondly, I want to work with passive physical processes as much as possible - circulating glycol (needed to prevent the ground under the freezer from freezing solid) dissipates the cold temperature over a larger area - moving very cold glycol from underneath the freezer (20 sf footprint) across a larger area (200-250 sf) and cooling that area to below the ambient underground temperature. An air conditioner with a Coolbot controller involves more energy input and more machinery than a simple pump to circulate the glycol. This approach now requires a process of cooling the root cellar with an air conditioner, dissipating the heat and now there is the added problem of having the freezer sitting smack dab in the middle of the living environment and dealing with the waste heat generated by the freezing machinery. Walk-in freezers with underfloor systems have to dump that coldness somewhere, I just want to use it by diluting it and chilling a larger area for free. The heat generated by the freezer's machinery can be isolated from the root cellar by walling off the above-freezer machinery and piping the heat out. Or so I think. I'm not really up to speed on my laws of thermodynamics - it may very well be that shedding the heat from the freezer unit (a couple of sq ft footprint isolated behind a well insulated box above the freezer) in a room temperature (root cellar) of 34 -55 F is less energy efficient than dealing with a freezer operating at 5 - 10 F sitting smack dab in the middle of a heated 70 F kitchen. What we absolutely want to avoid is having any cold spots from that freezer in the kitchen because we will spend a lot of time in that room and this implies that the insulation on the freezer has to be pretty impressive to isolate a 10 F environment sitting in the middle of a 70 F environment. Secondly, I'd like to minimize the cooling cycles on the unit in order to increase longevity.