Thermal Eather Storage
GBA Editor
| Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on
Creating one of the most comfortable and economical heating systems available, SmartRooms Earth Thermal Storage System is installed in soil or sand under a concrete slab building foundation. (Sometimes called slab heating.) The result is that the ground underneath becomes an efficient, large mass of stored thermal energy. It’s the same principle as the earth’s core.
Their entire “energy saving” seems to depend on time of day off peak electrical rates as far as I can tell.
http://www.thermaray.com/solutions/earth.html
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Sorry the header should read Thermal Earth Storage
I do not see insulation used with this system, you will in fact be heating Mother Earth, be prepared for gigantic energy bills.
This is basically a radiant slab without insulation, folks using this method have learned the hard way about "deep earth heat loss".
I agree with Doug. Without a thermal break underneath the earth being heated, efficiency would likely be diminished. I would also assume this strategy would not be appropriate in climate zones 1 and 2 where winters are mild and where the cool of the earth is beneficial to slabs on grade during hot summers acting as a heat sink.
No, the headline is correct, but mispelled: Thermal Aether Storage. This system is about as realistic as Aristotle's fifth element, the unchanging and perfect quintessence.
This is a system for electrically heating the earth beneath a house, including the high water table found in many parts of the country. Nothing could be more wasteful or inefficient.
A more efficient alternative would be the old Maine canard about heating the air outside your house before it comes in through the cracks.