What We Need Your Help For

Each year the farm is increasing production as our gardens improve and perennial plantings of fruit crops come into maturity.  In order to meet the cooling needs of the farm and be able to offer a winter share of storage crops to our CSA we need a way of cooling our produce.  Many farms turn to a walk in cooler for this purpose. We'd like to try something different, and a little experimental, that operates without burning fossil fuels.  Root cellars have been used for thousands of years, and ice houses at least  a hundred, but both have their limitations.  We'd like to take the principle of using earth as a constant insulator a step farther by adding tanks of water inside the cellar that will freeze during the cold months and slowly melt and cool the space in the summer months.  

The root cellar will be a 16x16x8 foot poured cement foundation dug into a side hill.  The root cellar’s cooling time period will be expanded beyond the winter months with the addition of tanks of water inside the cellar that will freeze from the inside out when outside air temperatures are 31ºF or below, utilizing a passive heat exchange system of copper pipes filled with butane.  The frozen tanks will slowly melt during the warmer months, cooling an enclosed space within the cellar that can be used as a walk in cooler.  Once built, the passive cooler should continue to operate without the need for a power source, saving emissions and dollars. 

How The Passive Cooling Action Works

Butane boils at 31ºF.  When the copper pipes containing butane are in contact with air or water that is above 31ºF, the butane will boil and become a gas that will rise to the top of the sealed pipe which is outside the root cellar.  If the temperature outside is below 31ºF the butane gas will condense back into a liquid and drop down to the bottom of the pipe array inside the water tank.  If the water in the tank is above 31ºF the butane will once again boil and condense, starting a cycle that will continue as long as the water temperature is above 31ºF and the outside air temperature below 31ºF.  Each time the butane is boiled by the water tank temperature, heat is transferred from the water, cooling, and eventually freezing the whole tank starting from the inside out.

What we'll use the money for:

$7,000 16’x16’x8’ poured cement foundation with roof (labor and materials)

$2600 Excavation, gravel, trucking and drainage pipe

$1300 Construction details (Insulation, Ventilation, Shelving, Door, Interior wall)

$1100 Passive refrigeration units (4 water tanks, copper piping and fittings, butane)

-If we raise less than our goal we will still be able to move towards completion of the root cellar/passive cooler by scaling down the project, completing it in stages as finances allow, or using the money pledged as matching funds for further grant or loan requests

Your support of this project will help in 3 main ways

3.  The passive cooler concept is a new idea.  We are dedicated to keeping good records about how well it works.  We will adjust the amount of tanks or insulation as necessary and make the results known.  We would like this experiment to benefit other farms or individuals wishing to replicate it and will gladly share our data with school groups, tours, or others wishing to stay up to date via newsletter. Someone has to go out on a limb and experiment with new alternative technologies that companies are not likely to invest their dollars in.  This is grass roots research!

How You Can Help

-Any donation no matter how small is greatly appreciated!  Every dollar adds up, that's why they call it crowd funding.

-Share, share, share!  Please help us get the word out about this campaign.  Send out some emails or post to Facebook, Twitter, or your social media of choice. Please help us find folks that are interested in supporting small regenerative agriculture, exploring alternative energy techniques, and increasing local food security and pass along our project.

Perks

We've got some great perks to thank you for your financial support of our project.  Take your pick, from farm grown tea, garlic and csa shares to home-made: art, dinner parties, and t-shirts.

Thank you! Thank you!