Winter Earth Tube Update
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- čas přidán 21. 08. 2024
- Its been 6 months since I did my last video, which happened to be an earth tube update. So here is another one. This time you get to see the winter performance (technically Dec 7th isn't winter, but it is cold).
As an update, I'd say the house is performing well thermally, especially since the soil isn't even over the middle section of the house yet. We moved in about 3 weeks ago and are getting used to life in the new place. We are very busy fixing up our old house for sale while also living in semi-stalled-construction with boxes of our stuff stacked all around, but this too shall pass. For more detail than that, you can find photos and weekly updates at / homeintheearth
These sorts of walk thru videos are pretty easy to make (I filmed this one at lunch and did production in a couple evening hours), but time lapse videos always take me many many hours. In other words, you might get another walk thru before I have time for another time lapse step ;)
For this video, the eagle-eyed among you may notice that zone 2 heat is on during the first mechanical room clip. This is because my actual first clip didn't take (I had it set to photo instead of video). I figured it out and re-filmed it after the other clips, but forgot to turn off the heat first and didn't even notice until I was editing ;)
Thanks for the update. Could I beg for a quick tour? We, poor fans, are craving for a few images of the house... We miss you a lot :(
Yea, I recorded one just before the move in made things too disorganized. I can try to produce that soonish. Maybe Sunday afternoon will have a few quiet hours.
Ditto 🇨🇦👍
I just purchased a lot in my hometown in Mexico. I’m looking to run an earth to air exchanger for cooling purposes especially.
What I’ve been wanting to ask you is why don’t you run the earth tubes in a closed loop from the house out 100-200 feet then back? Wouldn’t this solve the humidity problem?
I have to imagine you are getting far more air exchanges in your home than you really need.
You could always dedicate one tube for fresh air and the others on a closed loop?
My thinking is that if your closed loops would be for cooling and dehumidifying and the open loop would cool less but bring in fresh air.
Thank you for sharing this system with us. There is just not enough on AirTubes online.
@@martyturcko8 do you have any specific video recommendation on this type of system to understand specifically how this works.
I’d love to hear how they’ve been working the last two years! Thanks for creating your videos.
I hope everything is going well for you guys and your project.
I don't know if others feel the same way as i do, but seeing an unedited 3 minutes update video can be just as good as a 20 minute edited video. :)
Yea, probably my own vanity in the way. I'm the "A type" personality who can't just get it out. I'm aware of the problem ;) In the mean time, you can find more low effort stuff on Facebook at facebook.com/HomeintheEarth/
Anxiously awaiting the next videos! Love what you're doing!
Thanks for the update. It's so good to finally see you moving in. I hope it is everything you wanted and more. Such a unique project.
Hey, hope all is well. Look forward to hearing what’s going on.
Yea, just really busy. Hope to get back to it eventually. This is my first time looking at comments in over a year, so that is a step in the right direction.
Something caused me to think of your project and that I havn't seen a video in awhile. I thought YT just wasn't showing me your videos. It's been awhile so I hope things are going good for you all.
Yea thanks for checking in. I just got a busy job at a software startup about a 2 years ago. Between that and a death in the family and relatives moving in and getting the house in order, I have not had time for videos. This is my first time checking comments or anything on the site in over a year. Actually, I was here because I wanted to see if I owed anything in taxes and see that I was demonetized by CZcams back in 2021 and didn't even notice. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'd love to get back to it sooner or later.
@@SimonHomeintheEarth I wish you and yours the best.
Still missing your videos and panting for updates.
Thanks Craig, you have hung on for a long time. Hopefully I won't disappoint for too much longer.
I was just looking to see yesterday if I missed a post. thanks for the update!
I'm so happy to see a post from you. Thank you.
Great to hear from you again most interesting update 👍 🇬🇧
This is THE most interesting build on U-Tube. It's starting to come in gorgeous.
Just started following your channel! I hope all is well and you make more update videos VERY VERY SOON!!!
Cool to see how it operates. Editing videos takes way longer than shooting them, atleast for me.
This is the first thing I check youtube for... Daily... Cant wait for the next video! Wish you the best.
Thanks for the work
Again I was wondering what happened your videos and a week later you show up! Well you said you wanted to be in there by 2022 looks like you made it! Merry Christmas! God bless and take care all the way from California.
So happy to see you moving in! What a lovely and interesting house you’ve created. I’ve loved watching this project unfold. And it’s so energy efficient!
Awesome.
Truly a pleasure watching this project. So glad your moving in. You are inspiring and your voice is easy on the ears. Gonna miss this project.
Don't worry, I have years worth of recordings left to produce and probably another year or two of construction before it looks finished ;) Just because we are living here now doesn't mean its over.
Im really looking forward to the next update!!
Thanks for updating your progress, hope your happy with this project..I think it's great well done
Cool water through the floor in summer, hot water through the floor in winter. Genius!
Looking forward to the full tour! It’s a beautiful house and very well engineered. I watch a lot of home builds but nothing else is as cool as this one!
Thanks for the update, love seeing your progress!
Came for the earth tube, subbed for the epic house, great work dude that’s an absolutely fantastic build 👍
Y'all rock!
Amazing! Beautiful home!
We miss you 🤗
Hi Simon,
great work
Hey Junaid........................ Thanks for the encouragement 😄
Christmas has come early!
Doh, I have only a week or two and haven't even started Christmas shopping. I wish I could just count this video ;)
Holy macaroni! This project has taken forever! I don't know how your wife puts up with it. That is the part you should talk about. It seems like your kids will all be grown and out of the house by the time this is all finished. Does that mean you're doing this all pay-as-you-go? That might make it worth it then.
Yea, most it has been "pay as we go". We did get a line of credit ready and sometimes we hit it for larger expenses, but there have been several years where we didn't touch it at all. Doing it yourself is much cheaper, but there are other costs to taking it slow. For instance, we had to maintain two homes. We have sold the other one and are living here full time now. Kids are still here for a few more years, but it was getting close.
I like your system. Your YT video has a LOT more elements that you've incorporated into your heat and cooling system. I'll be starting construction in a few months on a large rammed earth house in Colombia. I only plan on cooling as the outdoor temperature rarely gets above 84º F and with the 24" thick walls I don't expect to use or need to cool it very often. Would you be willing to share the various components you've incorporated into your cooling system? Thanks.
Nice keep us informed with your inspiration and great art work!
Thanks for the update! Love seeing this and is an inspiration!
It has been a long build and thank you so much for sharing the process . And it looks like you have reached your goal your home is a masterpiece thanks again for sharing
Very informative
Hope all is well and looking forward to new posts.
Hi Simon long time NO VIDEO mate 😁 are you in hibernation or have you forgotten all of your dedicated and loyal fans who are very curious as to what progress you and your family have made in the past 8 months 🤔😁
I hope you all are healthy and safe.
Please give us an update soon
Tony from Western Australia 🇦🇺
Ditto,seen all the videos and he just stopped updating
@@brianpeterson5559 Simon isn't exactly the fastest producer of videos he sort of reminds me of "project Binky" that way
I haven't given up hope yet for a new one 🤔 maybe our messages might remind him of the IMPORTANCE To his subscribers that his videos are.
Tony from Western Australia 🇦🇺
Yea yea, thanks guys. The encouragement helps increase your chances of getting an update.
I actually have a lot of footage to share if I ever have the time to assemble any of it into a video.
@@SimonHomeintheEarth lol yeah a bit of sucking up never hurts
Glad to see videos up from you guys, Good to see you are well. Just a heads up, if you have to replace your inline fans at some point, Max Air manufacturers the fans labeled Economy Inline fan as well, but does not put their name on them. They are completely identical other than cosmetic finish, I've had them apart down to the bearings. They are about 1/3 the price. Be careful not to get the shiny black economy fans, those ones are garbage. You want the off-white/gray one with a semi matte finish.
Loving this series! We are buying 11 acres and putting a 400 sq ft environmentally green hobbit home on the property. Can’t wait!
Fantastic. Hopefully you'll post pictures somewhere so we can see it.
Was waiting for an update thanks!
It looks really great!! Got questions….
Are the earth tubes perforated to help balance humidity to the earth, or, Non-perforated & depend on air constantly moving thru them, to avoid mold growing in them?
How does one clean earth tubes, to prevent breathing accumulated gunk over chronic time?
Have you considered building a framed filter box in front of the group of tube intakes, to allow using ..one set of standard-size filters.. to feed all the intake tubes in one framed box?
It really helps make filter changes easier! It lets you scope-out & bulk-buy the most common size (therefore less costly) high-grade filters.
Electric on-demand water heaters-how thrifty are those, used for a radiant floor or wall? Guessing only needing to use it way less often, could bring operating costs down similar to a gas on-demand, or lower?
Suggestion for individual tube filters on larger tube ends:
Could use the composite “paper” cones for Filter Queen vacuum cleaner. Those are HEPA rated.
Those can be fixed (use stretch bands, or screw-clamps) over each tube end, & a screen framed box over the group of them.
Years ago I worked with an old retired plumber. Anytime someone said hot water heater he would correct them by saying "There is no such thing as a hot water heater Why would you need to heat hot water?"
Almost can't argue with that... But then I got a solar hot water system. It actually gets the water up to 160 or more, so I mix in a little cold (thermal mixing valve) to get it down below 130 (for safety) and then run it thru this hot water heater to get a nice consistent temp... SO now it is a "Heats hot water a little hotter" heater.
Now, if I get sunshine, it almost doesn't need to add any heat for the rest of that day, evening and the next morning (over the past winter), but if we don't get sunshine (only 29% sunshine days in winter in SE Michigan), the heater gets to work a little harder. This coming summer will be my first summer season with the solar hot water and I doubt the "hot water" heater will have much work to do at all.
When the next video likely to come out? I've been watching this channel for years and I can't wait for the next one! :)
Now I don't want to be dramatic, and I only found your channel today. But please update :) :) :)
Yup... Been distracted this past 18 months or so. But planning to get back to it sooner or later.
Need new update!
cool man, thanks
How is it going? Long time no hear.
Super cool . System . Have you tried usimg a reusable syntheti. Filter medium
What happened? What's the status of the house? Did you finish the project? Did the house meet inspection? Why did you drop off the face of the virtual earth...
Yes, yes, and yes ;) We are living it in now and I have many hours of video recorded that I just have not had time to produce into releasable videos. In the mean time, it is much less effort required to drop an update to facebook, so you can find us there if you are curious on the current state. facebook.com/HomeintheEarth/
Update please. It’s been 6 months
Hi, impressive work. I use before the ground fountain water to çhange the teperature on my heatpump " is home made from wasted recicled air conditioner ", but many problems with water in winter. This year i put undergrown tube 10m lomg , 1.6m deep , 400mm diameter , i maded from concrete, i wait winter to test it. Can you share the different materials transfer heat ? I avoid plastic because of low transfer , i believe concrete will transfer more. Thanks
Yes, concrete can transfer heat more quickly than plastic, but the transfer is fast enough. And the HDPE plastic does a lot of things much better than plastic, such as easier to place (no heavy equipment required), it is longer lasting and nothing will grow on the HDPE plastic.
The goal is to transfer energy between the air and the volume of soil around the tube. There are many transfers that are slow, such as the transfer between the air and the inside wall and the transfer between the outside wall and the soil and the transfer between the soil near the pipe and the soil further from the pipe... If you transfer too quickly, you end up using up all the energy and reaching equilibrium too quickly. If you are too slow, then the air doesn't exchange enough with the surrounding soil and it was all a waste of time. The solution isn't to switch to a higher transfer pipe material (especially if you pick up other weaknesses), the solution is to optimize the pipe length to provide the right amount of transfer over the length of the pipe. 100 feet of HDPE pipe is able to transfer 10 degrees year round without ever exhausting the energy stored in the soil. You might be able to get that with concrete using a shorter length, but the cost to install would be much higher and would be transferring with less earth (less total capacity).
Simon just wondering if you have gone into hibernation, or just forgotten your loyal subscribers, any chance of sharing your latest upgrades please?
Tony from Western Australia 🇦🇺
Yea, sorry. Just got busy. Had a death in the family, a new job, moved into the house, etc. It takes a lot of effort to make these videos and I just don't have the time lately (but I do have a large backlog of recordings to turn into videos when I get a chance). It is relatively easy to post updates to facebook, so you can check there if you want to see where we are now. facebook.com/HomeintheEarth/
Haven't heard anything in a long time. Wondering how the house is going.
We are living in it, but just too busy for videos.
Wondering why you're using the earth tubes in the winter, because most of the house is already at ground temperature. I could see how the earth tubes could help cool in the summer though. And I'm guessing for summer a recirculating system would remove more BTU's then drawing outside air, but unfortunately remove BTU's in the winter too.
The earth tubes help moderate all year long. In summer, they cool the air from high outside temps down to the low 60's. In winter, they warm the air from the freezing outside temps up to the high 50's. Either way helps a lot. In winter, you wouldn't say I don't need to heat my house, but it is a lot easier to heat air coming it at 59°F than air coming in at 20°F.
Hopefully it isn't too personal, but what climate region are you in? I'm guessing you're in a northern US state or Canada... Because you shoot some videos where it's cold and snowy, but also have 90 degree summers. I'm wondering if the earth tubes HVAC system is practical in any climate? Like in southern California where there is less seasonality? Or the deep south where it can be very hot and humid much of the year?
Also, what's your line of work? Are you an engineer? I saw your early video on designing the steel structure, with 3d modeling and FEA screen shots, and it reminded me of when I used to work in mechanical design and do a lot of 3D CAD work and shop drawings. Seems like an engineer thing to be confident enough in a new building type design, and also meticulous enough to spec the various custom systems' details, and then abnormally focused enough to see the project through on a decade+ schedule.
Yea, I live in SE Michigan. So plenty of temp variation and plenty of humidity. Earth tubes work best were you have variation and lower humidity, The southwest is almost ideal for it because even though you don't have large seasonal temp variations, you do have large daily variations. Imagine averaging the day and night temps. You can easily find out the temp you would get by checking the ground water temp in the area.
I am an engineer. Trained as an aerospace engineer, but I worked in automotive for a while (masters in automotive engineering) before getting a job at ANSYS (engineering simulations). Now I work at a startup company doing something similar.
The "no trespassing" sign near your Hobbit house, is that so hunters don't shoot on your property, or snowmobilers stay away? I grew up in the country in the Midwest and that's what that usually meant to me. Otherwise there aren't many passersby on foot to warn off like if you're in town. Just wondering if you've had a problem with "Looky Lou's" at your extraordinary home? Is that one of the little known drawbacks of pioneering a different dwelling style?
Yes, we actually call them "Looky Lou's", so its funny that you use the same term. Usually we wave at them and they drive away like they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
The signs are for legal purposes. Especially back when we had some open holes or dangerous spots on our constructions site, someone could have hurt themselves while trespassing. Believe it or not, but having a "No Trespassing" sign makes a big difference in court. I don't think anyone would be foolish enough to hunt on someone else's land out here. That seems pretty dangerous.
We are in the country, but it is a very pretty road (used in TV commercials such as one for the Chevy Volt) and lots of people like to come out just for the drive. Lots of walkers and cyclists too. For a dead end road a mile back from the main road, we get lots of traffic.
Just curious; why wouldn't you want to use limestone between the walls/floors and the earth? It cuts down immensely on moisture trying to enter; is a great natural insulator, and stabilizes the soil as well...
Connecting with the earth (not insulating) was one of the things I was after. We used 6 mil plastic to prevent moisture trying to enter (required by code). The soil didn't have a stability problem.
Very cool. Im new to the whole topic. So have a 1001 question’s but I’ll ask just one. Do you know of any data on long the underground pipes last? Thank you.
They are made of HDPE plastic, so pretty much forever. Longer than the concrete at least. This is what the highway department uses when they build their drainage systems, etc.
@@SimonHomeintheEarth Ah Thats good. It would have been awful to replace them in some years or so.
What great videos! I am about to build a earth brick house using 8 inch wide brick and want to use earth tubes year round. I am wondering, is it okay to use the no perforated corrugated tubing? Or do you think it will cause a problem with moister at some point with the corrugated ribs? Also I am digging a basement and was going to Bury the tubes in a trench I’m digging in the basement, but if I only got 30 feet of run, you think it would be better to go back and forth until I reach hundred feet or should I just go straight under my footing and out into my yard? Like would the turns mess up the air flow? And if I use one piece for the tube, should I drain holes at the end for the condensation to drain out? Sorry I’m all new but super excited about earth tubes and am definitely more interested in them than the normal ax unit.
Hope all is well, and agin awesome videos!
Hey Mike, I experimented with both. The double wall HDPE pipe works well, you just need to slope it to let the condensate out. I also used the corrugated perforated pipe (6 inch) and that worked well also. If you only have 30 ft, then I suggest you run a bunch of 6 inch pipes in parallel. The air can just move thru them more slowly so there is time for heat exchange, but that is better than building up back pressure by running a long pipe with lots of turns.
Here is a link to the n12 if you want to try that. www.adspipe.com/pipe/n-12-dual-wall-pipe
Hi from Oz . I wanted to do something like this for cooling about 12 years ago but got thought I was on a fool's errand and went with air conditioning . I'm regretting it now with energy costs and now having to replace the AC units . My question is what type of piping did you use to maximise heat transference while maximising longevity . Cheers Craig
I used 8 inch double wall HDPE pipe. There are tradeoffs and so I don't think I really "maximized" heat transference, but I also don't think that the pipe material is the real bottle neck in that equation. You could go with a steel tube or something like that, but it would be like a race car in a parking lot. The bottle neck is the slow speed of transfer in the dirt around the pipe or the slow speed of transfer between the pipe wall an the air. As it is, the HDPE plastic is nice and smooth (good for air flow) and I never have to worry about it rusting or mold growing on it or critters chewing thru it or it cracking or anything like that. You can see my website for more info on the topic. www.homeintheearth.com/tech_notes/earth-tubes/earth-tube-concerns/
Great job, how warm is your garage?
Pretty moderate summer and winter. Not quite as nice as the house because air gets in around the garage doors and it is completely unheated. But warm enough that the bathroom never freezes over the winter and it feels nice and cool to work in there all summer.
Are there scenario's where you have condensation in the tubes? Mainly in summer I guess? Any way thanks for the update!!
Yea, in the spring and early summer, the ground is still very cold from the winter, but the outside air is very hot at muggy. That hot muggy air enters the tubes and condenses on the cold walls and comes in at around 100% humidity. You can see my summer video on the topic (it is linked at the end of this one) for that time of year. The tubes run down hill, so all the condensate heads down and away from the house. The sections of pipe are 20ft long with joints between them that let the water go back out to the soil.
@@SimonHomeintheEarth The replay is greatly appreciated. The joints that let water out makes it clear to me on how you deal with the condensation. Thanks!
Long time. What’s up?
Yea, first time checking comments in a long time. Maybe I'll start posting again soon.
I've been following this project for a few years now along with a handful of other passive heat pump projects so to speak. I am getting ready to install a pond on my property, it had occurred to me that the mass of water being below ground could function as a thermal battery. I was imagining the classic black pipe coil underneath the liner. I've been looking at various calculators online, trying to figure out the potential and very few of these calculators seem to agree with each other. I'm sure there are far too many variables to make an accurate prediction, but is there a simple rule of thumb formula for estimation? Are there any reasons why water (of significant volume)would not work as well as earth? And lastly, are there any particular references or resources that you recommend?
While a larger upfront cost, a geothermal heat pump can be installed in/under the pond and work a much greater efficiency than a straight air/water heat exchanger would.
The specific heat capacity of water is about 5 times greater than dry soil, so yea, that should work better. If you imagine that you are actually sandwiched between soil and water, it would still be fantastic. As for calculations, for air tubes, there are a lot of variables and the math is murky (although some of us are working on it). For water in pipes, there is a ton more research on it. Once you know your pipe diameter and that you are pumping water thru the system, a lot of variables fall out and things get pretty easy mathwise. I plan to do a video on that myself one of these days, but in the mean time, this video has the best combination of detail and simplicity that I have seen. czcams.com/video/uH3bjIUO4fg/video.html The video is for head loss (to size your pump, etc.) but it also talks about heating with that pumped water. You are just working it backwards (pulling the heat from the distribution), but the math is the same. For sure, such a system will be fantastic and I'd be very interested in hearing how it goes. How do you plan to extract the heat inside the home? Do you plan to have a manifold with a number of loops in case one fails? If you don't have a channel of your own, maybe you could film it and post it here. You could have what pittance FB pays us for it. Either way, good luck.
anything new coming out?
Yea, sorry. Been busy. I'd love to get back it it soon, but I'm not sure when I will be able to.
Hi great work how did you size the fans though??
I originally did a ton of math and really tried to design this well. But in the end, I realized that there are better experts at these companies that make the fans. All I needed to do was find the best fan for a similar application. For earth tubes, you want a fan that can handle back pressure and that matches the diameter of your ducts. You also want one that can handle the moisture that may be in the air without rusting out. You also want it quiet. You also want it to use very little electricity. It turns out that the people who run these marijuana grow houses also want all those things, plus a really cool probe that could tell me the temp and humidity (and actually turn on or off based on those). I recommend these fans. They have operated continuously for years, provide more flow than I need and are only 47 watts each.
@@SimonHomeintheEarth thank you very much
What about the efficiency of the system does it drop overtime ??
Isn’t humidity low in the winter?
Yes, in winter the system is pretty ideal. In our old house, we always got dry skin and static shocks, now it is just right humidity all winter.
Any news about the house build
Yea, sorry. Just got busy. Had a death in the family, a new job, moved into the house, etc. It takes a lot of effort to make these videos and I just don't have the time lately (but I do have a large backlog of recordings to turn into videos when I get a chance). It is relatively easy to post updates to facebook, so you can check there if you want to see where we are now. facebook.com/HomeintheEarth/
What's up did you stop updating?
Yea, sorry. Just got busy. Had a death in the family, a new job, moved into the house, etc. It takes a lot of effort to make these videos and I just don't have the time lately (but I do have a large backlog of recordings to turn into videos when I get a chance). It is relatively easy to post updates to facebook, so you can check there if you want to see where we are now. facebook.com/HomeintheEarth/
Where are you located?
South East Michigan, about half an hour from Ann Arbor
Do you plan anymore updates. If not, let us know
Yea, I do. I have just been busy. Death in the family, busy job at a start up company, living life. Today is my first day reading comments in 15 months, and that is a start ;)