Geo Therm for dog house

[woody]

like I said I am not an expert but back many years ago I read an article in a Handyman magazine where some guy did this to a room he was building on his house but he put so many down the wall he built a register along the wall to hide the ends of the pipe. being the curious kind I thought I would try it on a much smaller scale. I built a well house and I believe it was about 5 feet square and at the back wall I dug down about four feet and the length of the wall put in some gravel then a piece of field line I had laying around with gravel on top of that then some dirt on top of that to level things out. placed the well house over the well and pipe coming out of the ground. I was not to concerned about it when the weather was warm so I never checked it then but several times I would carry a friend out there and hold a cigarette over the pipe and show them how the natural draft would suck the smoke down the pipe and by holding it over the opposite side you could tell there was air moving constantly out of that side.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I built a 12 x 8 chicken coop with geothermal heat and it worked out pretty good.

I just used a fan motor off an old oil furnace, then plumbed it into 4 inch drain tile that was 100 feet long, and dug a trench 4 feet deep in a loop. In other words, the air was blown into the 4 inch pipe, it went around for 100 feet, then came back in. It was as simple as that.

The chicken coop was pretty well insulated (6 inches of fiberglass in the walls and ceiling), and it would stay 30 degrees warmer than outside. That worked for us since it meant only when it got down to 0 degrees (f) or below, would the water freeze. Here in Maine, that is not really that often.

In the end, the cost of powering the fan motor was a LOT cheaper than using an electric heater to keep the chicken water from freezing.

 

[DaveMueller]

Copper (or any metal) will have the best heat conductivity therefore heat transfer but at a much greater cost. Plastic is an insulator, so you're losing from the start. However, I believe that all home heat exchangers are plastic. They now make an HDPE tubing with enhanced thermal conductivity for this purpose.

There are online calculators to estimate your ground loop size. If you're going to dig a big hole, I think a little more homework is required so you're not wasting time. I've considered this same idea for heating the water in the barn for the winter (no summer cooling).

For the summer, a second roof with an air space will do wonders for lowering the inside temperature. For outdoor equipment, they're called "solar shields". Essentially they eliminate direct heating by the sun. Shade is the cheapest and easiest way to keep something cooler.

 

[kthompson]

Update: nearly ready to put in system. Have decided on most parts of what I will be doing. Quick recap the dog house is about 50 cubic feet. It will be under a shelter style roof with no sides, but chain link fence. Using steel roof but plan to puta ceiling in under it with air space open with the slanted roof so should have natural circulation as the roof is heated the air below will also so the hot air should flow up out the roof drawing cooler air in the lower eve. The floor of the kennel is concrete.

I am planning on using a 100 feet of 1/2 inch plex burying about 6 feet deep. Will probably be using drip pan for water heater to set the tubing in a spiral and screw it to the bottom of the house. Will have drain tube from the pan to outside the concrete. Plan to insulate the pan so it does not sweat. The house is insulated, 2 inch foam on the walls and what will be used on the bottom with full ceiling of fiberglass. The tubing should not be touching the plywood floor, wonder if I should place a vapor proof on the bottom of the floor?

Water heater pan is about 22 inches, maybe little larger. Should be able to put enough coils in it to heat and cool the dog house. I am also considering making a copper tubing coil to control temp in his water bucket with cut off valve on it. Want to design a system to wrap around the bucket and insulate it. Would be good to keep water cool in summer heat and from freezing in the winter. Plan to use pump for water fountain. Reason, I have one.

Have not considered a thermostat yet. Have planned to use water and antifreeze. If I use RV antifreeze is that safe if a leak in the ground? Is there anything you think I am missing or wrong on? I thought on the pipe and air geo therm and don't think it is best option for my situation. I would need an air inlet and really don't one in my yard where tractors and equipment is moved around a good bit and also want to be able to move the dog house in need be in the kennel and can do that with flexible tubing better than with flexible air duct.

 

[Carl_NH]

U. I would need an air inlet and really don't one in my yard where tractors and equipment is moved around a good bit and also want to be able to move the dog house in need be in the kennel and can do that with flexible tubing better than with flexible air duct.[/QUOTE

Having a hard time following your plan - a schematic would be appreciated. And a "movable" doghouse that has cooling and heating coils?

Just dig a 3' hole with drainage out the front with a ventilated roof.

 

[kthompson]

Carl, good idea. Will do so on the drawing tomorrow depending on if work gets in the way. lol My dog kennel is near where I part my trailers and path my tractors take to and from implements and shelter. I don't have room to put in necessary piping for an air system. On the part about moving the dog house, will be using flexible hoses to connect the pump into and to run between the dog house and the in ground tubing. Would be not moved but maybe four feet.

 

[Mat4644]

After all the labor, materials and energy costs better to just insulate the dog house with high density foam and install a low wattage hard heating pad.

 

[kthompson]

Mat, heating it is not the big issue here, it really is cooling it. Our temps have been in the mid to upper 90's for over a week with heat index about 104 up due to high humidity. Welcome to our summer weather. The heat is hard on outside dogs.

 

[BrokenTrack]

If you want to cool/heat a small area like a dog house or waterer for livestock, just dig a deep hole under where you plan to put it, then sink in a plastic culvert 8 feet long or so vertically into the hole. The bigger the diameter you can get, the better. Then rebury the culvert and cover the end with grating.

It works like an old hand dug well...

Air is a constant 57 degrees, so it is cool in the summer, and warm in the winter. It naturally rises in the winter, and keeps the doghouse warm, and keeps stock tanks from freezing.

People have been using them for decades to keep stock tank waters from freezing because it does not require electricity which cannot be had in remote locations...

 

[Fallon]

Update: nearly ready to put in system. Have decided on most parts of what I will be doing. Quick recap the dog house is about 50 cubic feet. It will be under a shelter style roof with no sides, but chain link fence. Using steel roof but plan to puta ceiling in under it with air space open with the slanted roof so should have natural circulation as the roof is heated the air below will also so the hot air should flow up out the roof drawing cooler air in the lower eve. The floor of the kennel is concrete.

I am planning on using a 100 feet of 1/2 inch plex burying about 6 feet deep. Will probably be using drip pan for water heater to set the tubing in a spiral and screw it to the bottom of the house. Will have drain tube from the pan to outside the concrete. Plan to insulate the pan so it does not sweat. The house is insulated, 2 inch foam on the walls and what will be used on the bottom with full ceiling of fiberglass. The tubing should not be touching the plywood floor, wonder if I should place a vapor proof on the bottom of the floor?

Water heater pan is about 22 inches, maybe little larger. Should be able to put enough coils in it to heat and cool the dog house. I am also considering making a copper tubing coil to control temp in his water bucket with cut off valve on it. Want to design a system to wrap around the bucket and insulate it. Would be good to keep water cool in summer heat and from freezing in the winter. Plan to use pump for water fountain. Reason, I have one.

Have not considered a thermostat yet. Have planned to use water and antifreeze. If I use RV antifreeze is that safe if a leak in the ground? Is there anything you think I am missing or wrong on? I thought on the pipe and air geo therm and don't think it is best option for my situation. I would need an air inlet and really don't one in my yard where tractors and equipment is moved around a good bit and also want to be able to move the dog house in need be in the kennel and can do that with flexible tubing better than with flexible air duct.

Polypropylene glycol (RV antifreeze) is safe to drink & is actually found in many processed foods. So, ya unlike ethylene glycol (automotive antifreeze) that will destroy your liver, its safe. Not sure about its thermal transfer efficiency compared to water or automotive as antifreeze. But its probably ok enough to get the job done. But more importantly, it won't freeze or kill you or the dog if it leaks.