Ground Source

[Watty]

If you are planning to put in ground source, do you need to let the RPA or anyone else know in advance? I am assuming not?
It would be into pp.

If you have done it or had it done, what depth did you go to?

 

[Oldwalls]

no need to inform RPA, and 1m deep and at least 3m apart

 

[Mur Huwcun]

Just had quotes for this today. Very interesting. What have everyone gone for? 1m wide trench or two 300mm? We need three 200m loops.

 

[Oldwalls]

I was advised to go for 1 pipe per trench (300mm)

 

[foxbox]

We've got 11 bore holes, each 150m deep. Personally I prefer them to trenching, sod's law says we're inevitably still going to end up needing to dig past them at some stage though.

Edit: Got the length wrong; they're 150m deep

 

[Mur Huwcun]

I can either dig a 1m wide trench and lay pipe each side or dig two 300mm trenches. The 300mm option will use less sand bedding I think. Typically our farm is very sandy but the property is over ten miles away so sand will have to be from nearby quarry unfortunately!!

 

[Longneck]

I used a drainage trenching machine and just trenched the 500m of pipes in two big loops at 1m deep. This way we avoided having to backfill with sand.
Worked very well and has been performing well now for 7 years.

 

[akaPABLO01]

1m deep
3m distance or 5m centre to centre
You don't need sand if you have peaty/sand soil
Trenching with drainage excavator is good but you need to cover a lot of distance as compared to a 50m x 1m x 1.2m which is usually 300m of slinky trenches in 50m
Bore hole can be very expensive at between £35/£50 per meter plus creates a huge amount of waste and a nightmare if you hit a well.

What is this 300mm? Vertical install of slinky at 2m? I'm not keen on this tbh as compared to flat 1.2m width. I feel absorption is less efficient and only consider this when land is minimal.

 

[Pond digger]

We've got 11 bore holes, each 125m deep. Personally I prefer them to trenching, sod's law says we're inevitably still going to end up needing to dig past them at some stage though.

We've got 11 bore holes, each 125m deep. Personally I prefer them to trenching, sod's law says we're inevitably still going to end up needing to dig past them at some stage though.

sounds very expensive! If you wouldn't mind telling, Id be interested to know- just how much more did this cost than an equivalent trench system?

 

[Mur Huwcun]

What is this 300mm? Vertical install of slinky at 2m? I'm not keen on this tbh as compared to flat 1.2m width. I feel absorption is less efficient and only consider this when land is minimal.

300mm wide trench as opposed to a wider one

 

[akaPABLO01]

300mm wide trench as opposed to a wider one

Yup, vertical slinky. As I said, not as efficient solar capture versus flat and only ideal when space is minimal

 

[Mur Huwcun]

Yup, vertical slinky. As I said, not as efficient solar capture versus flat and only ideal when space is minimal

I was refering to two 300mm trenches as opposed to one wider one for each loop. Saying that if we use a 13tonner it will be a wide trench as the narrow bucket is 18"!!!

 

[foxbox]

sounds very expensive! If you wouldn't mind telling, Id be interested to know- just how much more did this cost than an equivalent trench system?

We couldn't install a trench system due to the site constraints unfortunately. It's a big system heating 4 properties and although the boreholes were expensive the system does deliver the heat required for heating and hot water. Much more importantly though it's also providing a return on investment that justifies the install in the first place.

Edit: From memory I think we've got slightly over 2km of pipe in the ground in total but whether you can equate a borehole pipe to the same length of horizontal laid pipe I've no idea.

 

[24/7 farming]

Just install ours last month, 600m of pipe up and down 6x50mx1.2m wide trenches, 1.2m apart at 1.2m deep. Will be heating 2500sqft house

 

[Pond digger]

We couldn't install a trench system due to the site constraints unfortunately. It's a big system heating 4 properties and although the boreholes were expensive the system does deliver the heat required for heating and hot water. Much more importantly though it's also providing a return on investment that justifies the install in the first place.

Edit: From memory I think we've got slightly over 2km of pipe in the ground in total but whether you can equate a borehole pipe to the same length of horizontal laid pipe I've no idea.

That's a serious amount of pipe! Like you say- doesn't matter what it costs if there's a decent return though.

 

[Mur Huwcun]

What kind of electric consumption are you experiencing? Been quoted for a 4kw heat pump.

 

[Grassman]

Mine is 450 metres of pipe about 4 metres apart.
1.2m deep except where we hit rock.
150mm wide trench.

 

[Grassman]

I'm didn't mention it to the Rpa.

 

[ashelton]

Just install ours last month, 600m of pipe up and down 6x50mx1.2m wide trenches, 1.2m apart at 1.2m deep. Will be heating 2500sqft house
View attachment 485790

 

[ashelton]

Upto 10x faster than with a 360 machine. With less disturbance and more friable soil for back filling.

Available for hire or to buy.


For more information please contact me on 01507 578288 / 07734531227.
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