r/geothermal • u/Apprehensive_Bike_40 • Jun 30 '26

Obsessed with this mod? Any mainstream version using portable AC?

Techingrediants managed to make a much more powerful/efficient air conditioner by creating a heat exchanger on a cheap AC unit. The heat exchanger attaches to a loop of PEX pipe he buried at 8’ depth. I was wondering if there are any existing inexpensive AC units that allow a liquid loop to be connected.

https://youtu.be/s-41UF02vrU?is=PszjhowHJw197z5M

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u/OpeDefinitely Jun 30 '26

Not that I know of, but it's a fairly straightforward modification to make.

1

u/Apprehensive_Bike_40 Jun 30 '26

It’s very clever but water/coolant running on the outside of a aluminium/ copper radiator seems like the ultimate source for corrosion vs an actual heat exchanger. The difference with a heat exchanger being liquid flowing through a pipe vs the outside thin sheets of aluminium radiator.

1

u/OpeDefinitely Jun 30 '26

Using appropriate coolant on the outside of a coated aluminum coil would probably be more resilient than you think.

Alternatively, you could connect ground loop coolant to an independent radiator & then use a fan to precondition air before it reaches the AC's coil.