Thermal Ground Loop

[Dandasarge]

Has anyone done (unlikely) or thought about a thermal ground loop for cooling your PC?


I know its crazy but I need to dissipate a lot of heat.

[YoDude9999]

Actually, that idea should work quite nicely provided the radiant area is large enough to dissipate the heat you're putting into it. Otherwise the system will become heat saturated and not cool with any effectiveness.

Considering the amount of hassle it would be to implement such a system, I assume this would be for more than just cooling off your boxes? If not, then the next best idea would be to go with just straight liquid cooling. You could get imaginative with a car radiator to use as a central heat exchanger for all your boxes using a manifold system to connect them all together somehow. If you're going to have the heat exchanger outside, you could put the radiator inside a plastic box to protect it. With several vent holes, you may not even need a fan to cool it if the radiator is large enough.

This is something I've toyed with the idea of for some time now.

Yo-

[Fire$torm]

......You could get imaginative with a car radiator to use as a central heat exchanger for all your boxes using a manifold system to connect them all together somehow. If you're going to have the heat exchanger outside, you could put the radiator inside a plastic box to protect it. With several vent holes, you may not even need a fan to cool it if the radiator is large enough.

This is something I've toyed with the idea of for some time now.

Yo-

I have a similar idea. I have considered adding passive cooling after the radiator in the form of a large coil of plastic tubing (Pex tubing I believe) buried in the backyard about five feet under. I've seen this used for home HVAC systems. Every inexpensive compared to Active cooling alone.

[YoDude9999]

Yes, this is a popular method of heating and cooling now days it seems. Once installed all you really pay for is the electricity to run the pump. I would tend to think the idea would work better in summer than in winter, however, I have no data to support that thought.

It just seems as though during long winter months, in places that get really cold, the ground couldn't store enough heat to keep a house warm for any real length of time. Then again, these systems may not be suited for areas like that, I don't know.

The only real problem I see with mass liquid cooling in this situation would be that of, if you spring a leak, all your hardware goes down until it's resolved and that of the plumbing issue.

I had an AMD 4400+ system with 2x7800GTs that was completely liquid cooled. I needed this because I lived in an area that was very hot in the summer months and my AC couldn't keep up very well the temps. The liquid cooling resolved thermal issues that allowed me to run the system in temps of 90F and not crash.

I also remember all the plumbing that went it to it to make it all work and that was a job in itself. I love liquid cooling as it works so well, but it a daunting task to implement, not to mention the expense of water blocks for GPUs.

This summer, I may have to re-think that and consider going that way if I intend to stay online 24/7.

Yo-

[Fire$torm]

Yeah, as far as I know, the buried plastic loop is works better for summer cooling then winter heating. The further below the frost line you can bury the coil the greater the benefit due the more consistent temperature of the cooling mass (a.k.a. dirt) the deeper you go.

[Dandasarge]

Yeah, as far as I know, the buried plastic loop is works better for summer cooling then winter heating. The further below the frost line you can bury the coil the greater the benefit due the more consistent temperature of the cooling mass (a.k.a. dirt) the deeper you go.

The full idea, its a lot of what has been said, Yes this is just for my systems. I live in FL my days have been over 90 for a couple of weeks now. I was looking at a 1/2 ton loop. It would come out go outside to a radiator, come out of the radiator and go into a ground loop. back into an inside sump system then into the computers. Everything for me would pretty much be free, except for the time to put it all together. Even played with the idea of a water preheater, I guess I will just tinker. Would probability work great with someone with a swimming pool. I thought about just the outside radiator, that too is an option. It wouldn't have much to talk about though.

[YoDude9999]

.....But......if you had 4 of them, you'd have bragging rights for sure.

Also consider, you can get new car/truck heater cores off of ebay for $25 or less. These would make an ideal heat exchanger for a computer system. I saw a YouTube video that some kid put up doing just that. Although his system was a bit tacky in looks, it performed quite well. Considering what a person pays for a fancy, "computer" heat exchanger, this could save a person a small bundle.

The only problem with heater cores and radiators is that they don't come with the proper fittings to implement them properly. Because of this, some, "afro-engineering" would be required to utilize them in a viable system. This is something that most people don't care to do. Those that are more adventurous may want to take on that challenge however.

I think these ideas are really great and wished more people would take interest in them. It could serve to help lower costs for users overall if someone came out with an alternative way of cooling their systems by using some of the lesser expensive methods vs. electric bill as in AC.

Yo-