Using basement sump water to cool the house

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Xringer

Kaylee, What is "tiling"??

I believe that in this case "tiling" may mean: Copy and paste from Sump Pump Questions.

[Xringer]

"The sump may be connected to drain tile that drains the footings of the house, under the entire basement, or just the area where the sump is located. Many houses have tiling installed only around a portion of the house. "

So, in some cases, tiling means pipes made of tiles..?.



Humm, the footings on my foundation are much deeper than the bottom of my sump holes..
Maybe that pipe is for floor drains in other parts of the basement.?.

[RichInIL]

"So, in some cases, tiling means pipes made of tiles..?"

Traditionally they were clay tiles that interlocked. Modern drain tile typically is perforated plastic piping (usually black pvc in my area). Farmers of fields with clayey subsoils commonly install tiling systems to improve field drainage.

[ThomSjay]

Originally Posted by RichInIL

"So, in some cases, tiling means pipes made of tiles..?"

Traditionally they were clay tiles that interlocked. Modern drain tile typically is perforated plastic piping (usually black pvc in my area). Farmers of fields with clayey subsoils commonly install tiling systems to improve field drainage.

+1
My house was built in '51 and that's what it has. Last year, I asked my 15 year old to dig a trench beside the house so that I could install iso-board to the footings. When he got there, he lifted and tossed the tiles. I taught him as to why they were there, and then I reinstalled them.

[Daox]

Well, I've decided to try this out. We've had a pretty warm week and it hasn't been cooling down at night nearly enough to keep it cool in the house. It is currently 85F/29C as I type this.

To get an idea of what I might be able to get out of the cooling system I took some measurements. The sump croc in my basement is roughly 20" in diameter by 18" deep. This holds roughly a maximum of 24 gallons or 200 lbs of water. That water is about 55F/13C. If my house is 80F/27C I have a 25F degree difference. I figure if I can run it through a radiator I can probably raise the temperature of the water by 20F. So, with 200 lbs of water and a 20F differential, I have about 4000 BTU of cooling. Of course, when the warmer water returns to the basement it will cool back down and at the same time also warm up the water in the sump. So, I'm not too sure how accurate that 4000 BTUs is, but its a start. A small window air conditioner will put out 5000 BTU/hr. So, I imagine this will be somewhat comparable to that... for about an hour.

So, moving forward, I purchased a pump today. I was looking at swiftech's line of pumps and decided to see what newegg had in stock. I logged on and found an "open box" MCP355 pump for $39 ($65 normally) and went ahead and purchased it. It should provide about 1 gpm flow rate to the radiator. Speaking of the radiator, I'll be using a radiator that I have laying around from a car. The water will be pumped up into the radiator and a fan behind the radiator will push the air through it and cool things down. The only thing I need yet is some inexpensive 3/8" tubing and possibly some fittings to convert from the tubing to the 1" radiator hose. Suggestions are welcome.

[Daox]

For tubing, I was thinking of just getting some of that clear tubing, I think its made of PVC. I think that stuff is pretty cheap. Then, I'll just get some plastic/brass barbbed fittings to adapt up to the 1" radiator hose.

[MN Renovator]

I recently bought tubing for replacing my condensate drain line on my air conditioner. I think it was clear vinyl tubing if I remember right, just under 5 bucks for a 20 foot coil of it. Difficult to straighten the stuff out, if you can buy stuff that isn't already in a coil or at least isn't too stiff it will make things a little easier as the stuff I got liked to get kinks in it when I was straightening it out. I've seen better stuff that is sold in bulk by the foot where you cut it yourself and that stuff seemed much better.

Good luck!

[Daox]

I'm trying to figure out what else I'll need and I'm thinking a filter on the inlet would be a good idea. Any ideas on a super simple/cheap solution? I was thinking something like a sock rubber banded over the end of the tube, but I don't think that'll flow enough.

I'm also trying to find a way to keep the pump primed. I'm not sure this is necessary, their website doesn't say. However, seeing as the pump is for computer cooling, it is assumed to be in a closed loop. Any ideas here would be quite helpful as well.

[Piwoslaw]

What kind of radiator are you going to use, automotive or maybe from an old A/C or mini-split unit? What size?

Originally Posted by Daox

I'm trying to figure out what else I'll need and I'm thinking a filter on the inlet would be a good idea. Any ideas on a super simple/cheap solution? I was thinking something like a sock rubber banded over the end of the tube, but I don't think that'll flow enough.

How about this: Take a section of pipe/tube, with diameter ~2-5 times larger than the pump's intake diameter, put a t-shirt over the bottom, set it in the sump croc and put the pump's intake inside of that. The filtering area will be 4-25x larger, so no worries about flow restriction. In fact, the pump probably wouldn't notice a finer filter.

[MN Renovator]

Piwoslaw's idea is probably the easiest and cheapest option, also possibly the best, but here was my original thought for something like this.

Look at places that sell water pumps, they will have metal filters or strainers, just find one with a really tight strainer grid and be sure the water isn't being pumped at the very bottom where it will pull up sludge and when you are getting started, check the screen often to be sure its not clogged and after awhile if it never needs cleaning then you won't have to check as often.

Here are some examples, I've seen a few of these stocked in the stores but I don't know if they have the full selection.
Puddle Skimmers + Water Pump Strainers | Water Pump Accessories | Water Pumps | Northern Tool + Equipment