Here's a tip that will help you save on power. How about free air conditioning! Install a small car radiator in the cold air return of your furnace and plumb your cold water through it. Then on a hot summers evening turn on your garden sprinklers and the fan on your furnace and cool down your house for free while you water your veggies. Not only is this free air conditioning but it may save you a few pennies as it will preheat the water before it goes into your hot water tank.

-- Tim Jaeger (tjkayaker@cyplace.net), August 04, 2001

Answers

Make sure thats a new radiator, not one thats had antifreez through it, a bit posioness.

-- mitch hearn (moopups1@aol.com), August 04, 2001.

I wouldn't worry so much about using an old radiatior if you flushed it really good before installing however a new one would be better. Also assuming it's on a dedicated line to the sprinkler system and not to the kitchen. But don't forget to drain it before winter or you'll have a frozen mess.

-- Carter (chucky@usit.net), August 04, 2001.

Interesting idea; I'd be interested in hearing how well it works, if anyone does this. For instance, how much water would you run through it? And how much pressure will the radiator handle? Aren't car radiators only pressurized to about fifteen pounds?

I had a brilliant idea three years ago, just AFTER I had poured the slab on which the downstairs of my house sits. The idea was to run water through pipes in the slab, so that every time I ran irrigation water, the slab would get cooled down, and the irrigation water woud get heated up. My well water comes out at 52 degrees. Free air con, free preheated irrig water.

I offered to install this in my son's slab on the house he was building ,but he wanted carpet on the floor, so there wasn't much point.

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), August 04, 2001.

I read about how moonshiners were using car radiators with their stills, but were poisoning people by doing it. Apparently the metal alloy that car radiators are made from has a poisonous metal (cadmium?) which was leaching out into the liquor, and poisoning the drinkers. There have also been cases of superphosphate fertiliser based on recycled raw materials from third-world countries containing poisonous amounts of cadmium. It might not matter just running cold water through it, but I'd check carefully first.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), August 05, 2001.

How about this idea for (alomost) free AC: Dig a trench and lay 12- 18 inch dia piping 4 feet down, aout 50-100 feet long. make a covered from water/ screened entrance and connect the other end to existing duct trunk. Kick the home's central air fan on and it will pull air trough the pipe (cooling it considerably) and into the house. OR if you live in a really hot area- pull the air through the undergrond pipe and into the cooling fins of the existing centeral air- it will work better, much more efficiently and much cheaper. OR (this is what I do) get used to the heat and shut the AC off- I am surprised at how not bad its been- in fact, it seems to be rougher trying to constantly adjust from 70 to 90 with the ac on as opposed to 88 to 90 with it off. Also, watch out for leaded solder on those radiators- an all aluminum might be better choice?

-- Kevin in NC (Vantravlrs@aol.com), August 05, 2001.

I wouldn't use a car radiator, but rather a coil like a small radiator that is made for heating purposes in commercial buiildings. Often available free or cheap when buildings are remodeled or torn down. They can take much higher pressure tool. I think that for the "earth tube" to work well it should be 6 to 8 feet deep (or more) and a couple of hundred feet long, otherwise the earth around it will heat up too quickly and it won't cool air for too long.

Jim

-- Jim (jiminwis@yahoo.com), August 06, 2001.