Thermal-Conductivity Tests
Every thermal-conductivity test you have paid for is a measurement the Estimator would otherwise have to infer. Log them once and estimates near those sites are anchored to your real numbers instead of to nearby well logs.
If you have a folder of TRT reports from past jobs, this is where they earn their keep.
Where it lives
Open Geothermal in the left menu, then the TC tests tab. The page is titled Thermal-conductivity tests.
What you will see first
Until you log something, the page shows No logged tests yet. That is the normal starting point for every company, so nothing is broken if it is all you see. There is a Log your first test button in the middle of the empty page, and a Log a test button in the top bar that does the same thing.
Step-by-Step: Log a test
Step 1: Click Log a test (or Log your first test). The Log a thermal-conductivity test dialog opens.
Step 2 (optional): Upload the test PDF to prefill the form. The dialog accepts a PDF up to 15 MB, and it says plainly that extraction never saves on its own - reading the PDF only fills the boxes, and nothing is stored until you press Save.
Step 3: Fill in the three required fields. The dialog states them under the form: latitude, longitude, and measured conductivity. Everything else is optional.
- Site location - one box that takes an address or coordinates, with separate Latitude and Longitude boxes beside it
- Measured conductivity (W/m·K)
Step 4: Fill in whatever else your report gives you. All of these are optional, and all of them make the anchor more useful:
| Field | Units on screen |
|---|---|
| Site name | free text |
| Test date | mm/dd/yyyy |
| Bore depth | ft |
| Thermal diffusivity | ft²/day |
| Undisturbed ground temp | °F |
Watch the units. The form is deliberately mixed: conductivity is entered in SI (W/m·K), while depth, diffusivity and temperature are in IP (ft, ft²/day, °F). Most US test reports print conductivity in Btu/hr-ft-F, so that is the one number you will usually have to convert. Getting it wrong by the conversion factor of about 1.73 produces a value that still looks plausible, which is exactly why it is worth a second look.
Step 5: Set Source. It defaults to On-site test, and the other options are Public record and Imported. This is the same idea as the estimate basis on an assessment, so set it honestly: a value you measured on site and a value you copied out of a state database should not carry the same weight.
Step 6: Check every prefilled value against the report before saving. Extraction is a convenience, not an authority - it is reading someone else's PDF layout, and a misread conductivity quietly biases every future estimate near that site.
Step 7: Click Save test. Use Refresh in the top bar if the list does not update.
What changes after you log a test
Assessments near a logged test stop inferring and start anchoring to your measured value, and the confidence around them tightens. Logged tests also back-test the model: they are how the estimator gets checked against ground truth rather than against itself.
Who can see them
Tests are scoped to your company. Your crew sees them; other DrillerDB companies do not. Logging your test history does not publish it.
Removing a test
Deleting a test takes it out of your list and out of future assessments. It does not retroactively change assessments you have already exported.
Related Topics
- Reading Your Results - what estimate basis means
- Running an Assessment - see the effect of your logged tests
- Geothermal Estimator - why this is not a TRT replacement