Formerly Green Dream Project We're Jim and Jess, an off-grid couple building our dream of a sustainable homestead in Southern Arizona. What is it like to live on rainwater in a dry climate and build a huge 14,000 gallon earthbag cistern by hand? How can you thrive comfortably on 100% off-grid solar energy? How do you build a beautiful dream home out of dirt with no heavy machinery? We're working towards self-sufficiency and a healthier, happier, more fulfilling life together. Join us on our journey to watch all our failures, triumphs, and fun with new videos each week.
Thank goodness u spun the pipe so that the holes are facing down... I was about to freak out lol! The purpose is to let the condensation of moisture drain yall. Great thing to do, peace
@13:00 I would have lay'd all the pipes for the trench next to each other in a group, marked 1 and drilled them all based on the mark on the first, surely this would be a bit quicker? is there a reason you did them this way, or is this something you can improve on for the next trench?
Am I missing something? Is there something wrong with the dome you have already built? Why are you not living in it, or at least concentrating your efforts on finishing it? Could you live in it. There are heaps of channels here on RU-vid where people are living in far from complete renovation or building projects.
Good job. You probably over did the pipe fittings. No sense using that much primer and glue for that application. It's not like you are trying to prevent water from leaking.
Lol... dudes there is 0 reason to drill holes in your earth tube's. Terrible terrible idea. That gravel allows water to pool INTO the tube's during monsoon
I noticed that too. Could it be a way to remove condensation ? At 16.20 sec he did rotate the tube #1 . Any moisture will leak out and into the ground. Since the water table is 100 feet deep. It should not flood
Love watching. Been following you for a long time. I do have one question on the earth tubes. How will you controll or keep the mold spurs from flying into your home? I know you have holes to drain the water out. However overtime won't mold still build.
Hey Jim and Jess and Lluvia , a big HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Lluvia. I am enjoying watching this desert air-conditioning you are putting in. When I build my new home in Thailand I think this might be something I would like to put into it. It will be interesting to see how you make the connection to your house. Do I understand that one end is sticking out as the end where the hot air comes in and as you pull it through the surrounding area cools it down so when it gets to your house it is a comfortable temperature? That makes a lot of sense to me. In Thailand we have very hot summers but we also have a lot of moisture in the air and that's a concern. I'm wondering if it might fill up the pipe with water and grow mold. It is something we fiight a lot in inclosed areas. I will have to do some research on this. One thing we do have in Thailand that you don't have in America, is cheap electricity. The electric bill is very cheap compared to anywhere in America. I unfortunately do not have power to the property that we are going to build on so we are going to go 100 percent solar from day one. If we get the property across the dirt road across from us, I can get electricity to it and that's a good thing. It's more of a commercial property that we will use mainly a farm but are going to have a large commercial building on one end and a observatory on the other. Both will need a lot of power. I can't wait to get back to Thailand and start working on this project.
Are you reasonably close to Yuma? I can help with back filling the trenches if so. Looking at the mountains in the backdrop, looks more like golden valley.
Shocking the amount of work you spend time doing by hand. I couldnt even fathom not having a small Craftsman riding lawn mower with a hitch to haul a small trailer or even a small dump cart. Twice as many loads it takes when doing some of this stuff by hand, Not to mention the amount of money you probably spend on Ibuprofen. I mean a used Craftsman riding mower is like a few hundred dollars.
A few decades ago, the Brazilian government gave many of the poor their own piece of land. They built these underground tubes in order to cool the inside of their houses. I was exploring giant lava tubes in California. We walked about 1 mile underground to the end of the tube. There was an opening through some rocks. We climbed up about 10’ feet and out of the lava tube. It was 95 that day. Once we were out we could feel dry, cold air blasting out of that hole! It was AC cold on turbo fan setting. Amazing! I immediately started telling everyone what I read about the Brazilians doing this. We hiked on and came back there to cool off again before we left. I could not believe how well that works. Everyone should be doing this! It’s so cheap and works year round. The air will be warmer in winter than outside. It sounds too simple to be true but it’s absolutely true. These two are very, very smart people to do this. Well done!
FYI It is easier to glue your pipe together on the ground then drop it in the trench. I'm interested to see how this works for you, Mother Earth News had a story back in the 80s of a guy down in FL who did this then added a 2 story tower in the middle of his house with vent he could open from the floor he showed paper floating in the air pulled up by the draft created by the hot air rising pulling in cool air from underground
Out of curiosity: With such wide & deep trenches- why not side by side tubes AND one additional layer of tubes per trench? This would have provided multiple more volumes of cool air!
I may have missed it but with the holes in the tubes isn't this a radon collector? Hate to be a Debbie downer but will there be a heat exchanger for the air in the tubes?
SUPER DANGEROUS being in a trench that deep without jacks! People die every year from cave-ins with a crew around them. I would have assembled the pipe up top, and then lowered it in. Also, a pile on top of the pipe every 10' will keep it centered and hold it from moving. Then back-fill 2-3 feet. Soak it and compact it. Then add another. This procedure ensures it wont create sinkholes in the future.
couldnt you put 2 pipes in each trench at the edge of the trench to keep the pipe separated and save the cost of digging? what propels the air in the pipe to move and cool the home?
How did you calculate the amount of CFM needed. Also in the summer how long will it take to heat saturate the soil ?, doing nothing but warming the soil. Last but not least with the holes in the pipes you have the chance of pulling methane gas into the house, all it takes is voids moisture and a little plant material to create this, especially with the voids in the gravel... Years ago I had a subscription to Mother Earth News, tried a lot of ideas, most didn't work.
