toolnut
Member
Hi all,
I'm in the process of planning some major (for me..) upgrades to my house and barn / shop, and I need some advice in putting in a potable water line between house and barn.
The biggest part of the project is trenching (3200 ft) for a closed loop geothermal heat pump system, which I think I have mostly planned out. Then I got the idea that if I was going to have the whole back yard torn up, I might as put in water and electric to my barn and be able to use it as shop....
But I'm stuck on how best to run the potable water line out the back of my home, as I have a "walk out" basement and a 3 ft frost line. (I'm in PA). The geothermal lines will have anti-freeze of course, so no problems there. I was thinking that maybe running the potable water along with the "Incoming" geothermal line would keep things just warm enough (with some insulation around both) to prevent the water line from freezing as it exits the ground (from a 3 ft trench) and enters my basement just above grade. The design software says that "worst case" the entering water temp should be about 35 degrees, so not much excess heat. I can't easily stay below the frost line and enter the basement because the back of house is the "walk out" part...and I really don't want to dig under the slab.
So I was just wondering if anyone had any clever ideas, I'm not a very experienced builder but I suspect there are tricks of the trade that have been used in this situation all the time. One other thing, my septic system exits the back of the house as well, would it make sense to come in next to that plumbing to keep the water line a little warmer?
Hope this description makes sense... I know it's kind of a small issue, but I would really hate to mess this up and have the pipe burst... it would make a big mess of my downstairs....
thanks in advance,
-toolnut
I'm in the process of planning some major (for me..) upgrades to my house and barn / shop, and I need some advice in putting in a potable water line between house and barn.
The biggest part of the project is trenching (3200 ft) for a closed loop geothermal heat pump system, which I think I have mostly planned out. Then I got the idea that if I was going to have the whole back yard torn up, I might as put in water and electric to my barn and be able to use it as shop....
But I'm stuck on how best to run the potable water line out the back of my home, as I have a "walk out" basement and a 3 ft frost line. (I'm in PA). The geothermal lines will have anti-freeze of course, so no problems there. I was thinking that maybe running the potable water along with the "Incoming" geothermal line would keep things just warm enough (with some insulation around both) to prevent the water line from freezing as it exits the ground (from a 3 ft trench) and enters my basement just above grade. The design software says that "worst case" the entering water temp should be about 35 degrees, so not much excess heat. I can't easily stay below the frost line and enter the basement because the back of house is the "walk out" part...and I really don't want to dig under the slab.
So I was just wondering if anyone had any clever ideas, I'm not a very experienced builder but I suspect there are tricks of the trade that have been used in this situation all the time. One other thing, my septic system exits the back of the house as well, would it make sense to come in next to that plumbing to keep the water line a little warmer?
Hope this description makes sense... I know it's kind of a small issue, but I would really hate to mess this up and have the pipe burst... it would make a big mess of my downstairs....
thanks in advance,
-toolnut