This afternoon, after we have finished the task of leveling the ground, we started installing more conduits for our temperature probes that will measure the performance of our Energy Modules and how the ground around them is changing over the course of the seasons and the year and beyond.
We are using a DIY vacuum cleaner and a long hollow plastic pipe with nails attached on the end, to drill and suck out the sand and soil to form a deep narrow hole. We then insert the plastic 20 mm pipe with one end melted and squashed flat to form a waterproof tight seal. We are drilling down 1.5 metres so we will have a temperature probe located 500 mm below the level of the Energy Module and then another probe higher up so it measures the mid-point of the Energy Module too.
Drilling-a-probe-hole
Sometimes, it is jolly hard to drill down because we hit a gravel layer in our sand dunes which we think were the original seabed layer when this whole area was under the sea!
First-3-temperature-probes
Tomorrow, we are going to change our drilling tube over to a metal one so we can weld on more strongly the “spikes” (heavy duty nails!) to survive the bashing and turning actions. the plastic version is ok but it is already showing signs of wear and tear so we found a metal pipe lying around and we will use that instead!! Yes Another homemade tool – smile!