Missing FReeper! (LittleJoe) Black SUV Alert!

FreeRepublic.com ^ | 1/22/04 | null and void

[null and void]

The tribe has spoken, Pelosi and Boxer, get off the island...

[Quix]

Welllllllllll, go for it!

I'd think lots of people could give you the techincal advice and there are probably blue print type drawings on the net.

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

So glad to see you back! Congrats on your hot spring. I went swimming in a hot spring in Jackson Hole Wyoming the night before my wedding there in 1970. It was definitly one of the best experiences of my life!

[Don Joe]

Now I'm wondering if I can generate power from the difference between the hot and cold wells.

I read something about that years ago but can't find the info again. Maybe just science fiction...

It's called a Peltier Junction. An array of them can generate a decent amount of electricity. They are solid-state heat pumps -- you put DC in, and one side gets hot, and the other side gets cold. They're used in everything from CPU coolers to those picnic coolers that run off a cigarette lighter jack in your car.

When you pass heat through them, the opposite thing happens. They create electricity. The thing is, you can't just heat 'em -- you need to have one side hot, and the other side cold. The greater the differential, the more efficient they run.

If you put one on top of a wood stove, it won't create any electricity, it'll just get hot. If you put one side on a wood stove, and pack snow on top of the other side, it'll create electricity.

If you can find some of 'em at a decent enough price, you could probably rig up something that ran off both your wells. At 100% efficiency, both water outputs would be at the same temp, in between both input temps. You won't get that kind of efficiency of course, but you get the idea.

Another idea would be a heat pump (for heating, and producing hot water). If it's hot enough, a simple heat exchanger might be all you need. For electricity, though, you'd need either a Peltier array, or a Stirling (spelling is off) engine, but they're expensive, hard to find, and very inefficient.

[null and void]

Sooooo, when can we all come over for a soak?

[pointsal]

Phooey...call "customer service" at a reputable, major title company serving that city/county. If you have the street address and parcel number for tax assessments (APN), title company should be able to produce a copy from the PUBLIC RECORD for you to review. Of course, you need to determine if the recored document has been updated with amendments or modifcations. This should not be a game of "hide-the-ball". Get a good real estate attorney. If not "good", then get a mean one.

[null and void]

Sounds like a good answer. Darned if I know what the question was...

[MD_Willington_1976]

Peltiers will not produce that much power...that cooler you plug into your cigarette lighter in your car sucks so much current it isn't funny...Like anything that has to do with physics...you cant get something for nothing...

if peltier coolers worked like you describe, a equitorial country near the ocean would only have to float large junction plates on the surface of the ocean to generate power...not so...

The heat exchanger is a better idea...use a large stainless steel exchanger like a condenser from a steam plant and stuff it deep down into the hole in the ground, then pump potable water through it and keep the returned heated water in a resevoir...like a radiator type heater etc...

you may need to pump the water through the exchanger especially if you aren't at boiling point below ground...but remember pumps require energy especially for a deep well...

later

MD

[Thinkin' Gal]

Hmmm, looks like LittleJoe has been missing since 01/27/2004 4:00:13 PM EST.

[aculeus]

Hmmm, looks like LittleJoe has been missing since 01/27/2004 4:00:13 PM EST.

I'll ping you on 01/27/2008.