Proposed cooling tube design.


Cooling tubes are an inexpensive natural way to passively cool the air. Cooling tubes are long pipes placed underground through which air is drawn. As the air is drawn through the pipes it either cools the air or heats the air. It is usually used to cool and dehumidify hot outside air, but can also preheat cold outside air. The drawn air temperature will move towards the ground temperature where the tubes are located. There are a number of variables and design tradeoffs including:

- the average ground temperature of the site,

- temperature extremes for summer & winter,

- diameter and length of pipes,

- handling of condensation,

- intake located in ravine/slope or in a dry well.

Our implementation will consist of:

Two 30' lengths of 6" - 8" of perforated PVC pipe placed approx. 6' underground. The cooling tubes will be sloping 1/4" per foot away from house and placed in a bed of #2 stone to reduce humidity by wicking away condensation. The gravel will be covered with a thin layer of straw then sandy soil to keep out any silt. They will be vented to air as the property slopes away from house. They will have a screen over the end so no insects or small animals can get inside. It will be made such that they can be capped if required from the inside and cleaned by spraying them with a hose.

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