Using an indoor water fountain as a solar heat-sink

[amberwolf]

I don't think it was from me being there though, I think it was condensation from differing temperatures.

It is condensation from the colder outside temps, however the moisture being condensed is higher in an occupied room than one that rarely has human entry and normally is closed off. So there will be higher humidity in an occupied room and more likelihood of mold/etc. because of it.

As a sort-of example, when all the dogs sleep in here with me, my window A/C unit sometimes freezes up on the interior coils once the outside temperature drops far enough fast enough, just before dawn. But that almost never happens if only one of them is in here (it's a near certainty that at least one will stay in here; if it werent' for that I could probably say that it never happens unless more than just me is in here).

 

[maydaverave]

I have thought of using an indoor fountain for cooling. I live in florida so heating is cheap but cooling is expensive. My plan is simple 1 indoor fountain. 2 some pipe buried about 4 feet down. 3 run water from fountain through pipe and back into fountain

 

[dnmun]

why not bury your house and then run water over the outside to cool it? pin oaks have great shade, low maintenance, wide flat canopy to cover the roof, that would reduce the thermal load for the air conditioner and help reduce the humidity.

or move where it is a temperate climate. i love this place, but la nina is back, rainrainrain. but not for another 2 weeks, never had an air conditioner here. nor solar hot water. yet.

for hot water i have a custom built hybrid hi efficiency natural gas bosch/junkers boiler running at about 88-94% efficiency with storage using a small 30 gallon electric backup storage tank. i use a small taco circulating pump, 80 watts, to draw water from the storage tank and through the boiler and return it at the top of the tank. very similar to an industrial/dairy type design, but using a 125k btu boiler derated to 38k btu input. any less thermal input and the heat exchanger will not draw without assisted draft because so much heat is removed from the exhaust.

avg cost for hot water, 4 girls and me, for showers and washer is about $17/mth.

i am actually very opinionated about the new heat pump water heaters too. it seems criminal that building energy engineer or supervisor would allow the heat exchanger inside the envelope of the house. electricity is for batteries, lights and motors, and electronic equipment. we should not use electricity to make heat, as a society we have gotta amortize the buildout of natural gas so people also can fuel their cars with CNG from their home/or compressor stations at various locations, like with charging spots.

 

[veloman]

I like the idea of more CNG use. But isn't it more dangerous, especially for average people to be controlling the flow of it?



I got a temp/humidity gauge for my room in the basement. It's 72% right now, and thats with the window open and it rained heavy tonight.

If I keep the window shut all the time, it rarely goes above 65%, so I don't think I'll have a moisture problem in here.

 

[veloman]

It turns out I don't need any additional heat source. With the furnace going on now that it's near freezing at night, leaving my door open keeps the room at 65-68 degrees. It's actually warmer in here now than it was a few weeks ago when the heat was off in the house.

 

[TylerDurden]

... leaving my door open keeps the room at 65-68 degrees.

Got me beat by ten degrees. :lol: