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posted by martyb on Thursday August 20 2020, @10:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the take-my-money dept.

This 'Cold Tube' can beat the summer heat without relying on air conditioning:

"Air conditioners work by cooling down and dehumidifying the air around us—an expensive and not particularly environmentally friendly proposition," explains project co-lead Adam Rysanek, assistant professor of environmental systems at UBC's school of architecture and landscape architecture, whose work focuses on future energy systems and green buildings. "The Cold Tube works by absorbing the heat directly emitted by radiation from a person without having to cool the air passing over their skin. This achieves a significant amount of energy savings."

The Cold Tube is a system of rectangular wall or ceiling panels that are kept cold by chilled water circulating within them. Since heat naturally moves by radiation from a hotter surface to a colder surface, when a person stands beside or under the panel, their body heat radiates towards the colder panel. This creates a sensation of cooling like cold air flowing over the body even if the air temperature is quite high.

Although these types of cooling panels have been used in the building industry for several decades, what makes the Cold Tube unique is that it does not need to be combined with a dehumidification system. Just as a cold glass of lemonade would condense water on a hot summer day, cooling down walls and ceilings in buildings would also condense water without first drying out the air around the panels. The researchers behind the Cold Tube conceived of an airtight, humidity-repelling membrane to encase the chilled panels to prevent condensation from forming while still allowing radiation to travel through.

A new cooling system for your home?


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 20 2020, @07:04PM (18 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday August 20 2020, @07:04PM (#1039500)

    Yeah, beyond 33' of lift you need to push instead of suck.

    Around here, the head on our 200' well is about 6' above ground level - flows into my tank without pump assist, but we still have a pump to get it to flow faster.

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  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 20 2020, @07:11PM (17 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday August 20 2020, @07:11PM (#1039502) Journal

    If you have gravity flow, wouldn't a fatter pipe do the same thing without the pump?

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    • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 20 2020, @07:21PM (5 children)

      by RS3 (6367) on Thursday August 20 2020, @07:21PM (#1039505)

      Yes but you want some actual pressure at your shower head, faucets, etc.- 20-60 PSI depending on preferences.

      • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 20 2020, @08:16PM (4 children)

        by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday August 20 2020, @08:16PM (#1039522) Journal

        Yeah, I like 60. Shower massage works better, and it's almost like having one of those high pressure washers in your kitchen. And for the water cannon, well, goes without saying...

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        • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 20 2020, @09:48PM (3 children)

          by RS3 (6367) on Thursday August 20 2020, @09:48PM (#1039554)

          Why stop at 60? Your local home improvement store can hook you up with 4,000. Dirt gonesky! Hang all your dishes in with you- get everything clean at once. :)

          Now I'm going to have to try a pressure washer on some cookware...

          • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 20 2020, @09:52PM

            by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday August 20 2020, @09:52PM (#1039556) Journal

            Most appliances and faucets, etc. are only built to handle up to 60.

            At 4000, you don't want to even get nicked by the stream

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          • (Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Saturday August 22 2020, @12:13AM (1 child)

            by Bot (3902) on Saturday August 22 2020, @12:13AM (#1040178) Journal

            Pressure washer and big pots, feasible in the open, where pieces of food ejected from the pots can land wherever.
            With dishes, very very risky and of limited efficiency.
            With glasses and smaller pieces not recommended at all.
            Source: direct experience.

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            • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday August 22 2020, @01:06AM

              by RS3 (6367) on Saturday August 22 2020, @01:06AM (#1040205)

              Thank you for saving me from making a mess! That's pretty funny that you actually tried it. "Nothing ventured, nothing learned" or something like that...

    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 20 2020, @07:29PM (10 children)

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday August 20 2020, @07:29PM (#1039509)

      Yes, we could expand our 4" well to 12" (if we could get a permit to drill such a big hole into the aquifer), and then we could run that 12" pipe over to our holding tank, the water comes out of the ground with a high Hydrogen Sulfide content, letting it outgas before bringing it into the house is a good thing...

      However, that's all "kinda weird" whereas the 4" borehole with submersible pump feeding a 2" line to the house system is bog-standard and competitively quoted by all the contractors. If you asked for the 12" borehole solution, not only would it cost a bit more because of the materials, bigger drill bit, etc. it would cost a LOT more just because it's weird and is using the kind of parts that generally only get used for huge (expensive) operations.

      The spring pressure used to be quite a bit higher, high enough for showers on the 2nd floor in the 1950s if the stories are to be believed, but when the local municipal water supply tapped the aquifer and started pumping out of it, the pressure dropped a lot. They gave all the affected residents submersible pumps "for free" when they did that back in the 1960s, but from there we're on our own - had to replace the pump last year: $1200.

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      • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 20 2020, @08:05PM (7 children)

        by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday August 20 2020, @08:05PM (#1039520) Journal

        :-) Just run two more 4" pipes... I kid I kid! I'm getting a clearer picture now...

        when the local municipal water supply tapped the aquifer and started pumping out of it

        For a giant bottling company, or actual local needs?

        1200 bucks, damn thing should at least be gold plated. They last a long time?

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        • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 20 2020, @10:47PM (4 children)

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday August 20 2020, @10:47PM (#1039568)

          The submersible pump itself is I think $450, the idiot neighbor I share the well with called a service contractor who charged him double what he could have paid if he had shopped the deal.

          The one that died was put in by the local utility in the late 1960s, so, yeah, they last a while - or used to at least.

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          • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 20 2020, @11:31PM (1 child)

            by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday August 20 2020, @11:31PM (#1039594) Journal

            The one that died was put in by the local utility in the late 1960s, so, yeah, they last a while - or used to at least.

            Ah cool, then the kids will have something to do when they turn 50

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            • (Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Friday August 21 2020, @12:51AM

              by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday August 21 2020, @12:51AM (#1039641)

              Ah cool, then the kids will have something to do when they turn 50

              Well, the kids are already 15, so if this one lasts like the previous they'll be nearly 65 when it goes.

              However, this one already "took a break" after a lightning strike - came back when the breakers were reset, but if it's like the yard lights - it might not be at 100% after that strike. Also, I'm pretty sure that industry endeavors to make things that DON'T last 50+ years anymore - in the name of saving $0.30 on bearings they can ensure that a pump will wear out after 10 or 20 years instead of 50 or 60.

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          • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday August 22 2020, @01:10AM (1 child)

            by RS3 (6367) on Saturday August 22 2020, @01:10AM (#1040207)

            If you've got artesian you may not need a submersible- a normal self-priming centrifugal might be enough, or a jet pump for sure. Unless the level occasionally drops way down.

            Interesting it's shared. I'd think the agreement would disallow one party making absolute decisions unless they're willing to pay 100%. That'd be my terms anyway.

            • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday August 22 2020, @02:49AM

              by JoeMerchant (3937) on Saturday August 22 2020, @02:49AM (#1040249)

              The agreement is a handshake - property used to be single owner for the two houses, prior buyer lost the deal by trying to lawyer up the shared well agreement. Truth is, you can sink a whole new well, with pump, for about $3K - so there's little point in engaging lawyers over an agreement. Neighbor didn't demand payment, but the poor schmuck lost his $400K/yr job with Microsoft that he's been working at for 15+ years and is selling real-estate now, so I figured least I could do was chip in what I would have paid to have the whole thing done myself.

              Most days we don't need to pump at all, when the submersible pump goes out it has typically taken us weeks to months to notice that it happened - never had the water table drop below about 6' of head around here. Same aquifer 200 miles south in Orange grove country, when a freeze is coming the groves crank up the 1000hp diesel pumps sucking on 12" boreholes to feed their "microdrip" irrigation systems, saturating the citrus trees before the freeze event, which apparently helps the fruit and tree survivability through the event. When the groves do that, our 6' of head drops to about -6 feet, we can still use a suction pump - have a hand powered pitcher pump on the wellhead for just those occasions, but even the 4hp gasoline pump won't fill the pond the way that the natural flow will when it's up.

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        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @10:56PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @10:56PM (#1039574)

          Two... more...

          How do you think pipes are measured, in order that flow from 3x 4"would give equal flow to 1x 12"?

          Eeeeep.

          • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 20 2020, @11:49PM

            by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday August 20 2020, @11:49PM (#1039605) Journal

            OMG! You're serious?!

            Obviously you gotta bump up the pressure. Don't you know anything?

            Man! I hope this didn't need a tag!

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      • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday August 20 2020, @09:41PM (1 child)

        by RS3 (6367) on Thursday August 20 2020, @09:41PM (#1039549)

        Sorry you paid so much. I can't replace my 400' one, but I've pulled up a few 150-200' ones and changed a pump, replaced a bad check valve, fixed wire break, etc. It's normally 1" black polyethylene pipe. Some older ones would have used threaded steel and would need a derrick or something to pull them up. Ugh. To pull my 400' one they use a 3-wheeled motor-driven thing you could almost make out of 3 wheelbarrow wheels (and maybe I will someday...).

        I've done some hydrogeology work and large municipal wells are typically 12-14", and the pumps run 480 3-phase and typically 1,000 gpm.

        • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday August 22 2020, @02:53AM

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Saturday August 22 2020, @02:53AM (#1040253)

          $600 once every 7+ years isn't a bad water bill... only other expense (besides electricity to the pressure pump) was a starter capacitor for the pressure pump - pump wouldn't start - struggled, so I pulled out the starter capacitor to get its specs for a replacement, then when I put the starter capacitor back in it fired right up. I ordered the replacement capacitor anyway, I think there's a Murphy corollary at work: keeping the replacement capacitor handy right by the pump means you'll never need it.

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