Water hole/tank and freezing temps

[Ben.MN/WI]

That frost tube picture is pretty intersting. How do those frost tubes transfer heat from below the frost line to above? I could see it working if you had a pump of some sort to pump warmer water from below the frost line using a conductive line through that would transfer that heat to the tank or the area just below the tank. That's essentially how the geothermal systems work.

I'm not sure how just having a PVC or tube underground below a tank would dramatically increase the water temps. It would be cool to put two water tanks next to each other, one with the vertical pipes and one without to see the difference.

 

[willy]

I would think the warmer air from 6' down would rise, warming the water, the warm water would rise and the cold water sink, the warm air would cool and then sink, keeping a continuous cycle of warmer air and water moving. I'm going to test this theory this next year.

 

[T-Max]

View attachment 61336
Frost tubes are common on cattle operations. Most have gone to larger tubes than your dad’s 6” units, but the principle is the same.

There is a good chance they were told that a 12" pipe is what they needed, but a 6" pipe is what they had.