geothermal pond loop?

[eepete]

Never seen a system that could not take a resistive electric backup just above the fan. You can select how many KilloWatts you want. On my pumps, you can select with a dip switch on the control board if the resistive electric kids in as a 3rd stage of heat (your thermostat must be able to produce that 3rd stage call for heat) or if it just kicks in if there is a fault in the compressor.

On the main 5 ton units, I have the 10 KW strips set up for a 3rd stage of heat. The bedrooms keep cool but when we get up in the winter we want the main living space to heat up fast. Having solar panels helps me get over the "guilt" of creating all that inefficient resistive electric heat . On the two 3 ton units, it only kicks in if the compressor or sensors on the water side have a fault. Once a year I flip the switch and run some resistive electric to burn off any dust on the heating wires.

I also have two of the three resistive electric strips on a breaker panel that is before the transfer switch on the generator. The key idea here is if you have a generator you can bust out the strips and not have to buy such a big generator. You could put a 2.4 KW on one unit for backup heat on the generator, and put a 10 KW on your other unit before the generator so that if you have a problem and you have power it's not an emergency.

Had not heard of a liquid accumulator before, interesting....

We have 80 gallon water heaters on two of the heat pumps. In the summer, I just turn them off.

As with many things, understanding all this stuff lets you specify a system that is uniquely suited for your needs. I think a lot of the HVAC guys have to either guess or just do "something" since most people would not know what to do with all these options. Knowledge is power (well, or maybe heat :laughing.

Pete

 

[Chilly807]

Had not heard of a liquid accumulator before, interesting....

I think a lot of the HVAC guys have to either guess or just do "something" since most people would not know what to do with all these options.

We have in-floor radiant heat, ergo the liquid accumulator. Our system is water-to-water, not water-to-air.

You're 100% right about the learning curve, it's pretty steep with "new" technology and the pressure of building a new house added on top.

The folks we used for the geo system were pretty patient, taking the time to explain the benefits of outside temperature sensors to automatically adjust the floor water temperature to what best suited the daily conditions, and slab temp sensors to give us a base-line temperature setting for cold nights and warm sunny winter days. The concrete slab is slow to heat and cool, so it's tricky managing room temps.

Sean

 

[haroldy]

Thanks for the info I'm still in the thought process. I figure I'm getting older and as much as I like heating with wood, time will more then likely force me to another style of heat{and on the plus side cool also}. Our pond is right at our back door and as of now is 8-10' deep{plan on dredging more}.

just went thru same thoughts as you ,after pricing geo thermal and air scource (25000 vs 9000 ) decided i woundnt live long enough to pay off
i am 74
have outdoor furnace i hope to be able to keep going for a few more years
harold

 

[Rob-D]

just went thru same thoughts as you ,after pricing geo thermal and air scource (25000 vs 9000 ) decided i woundnt live long enough to pay off
i am 74
have outdoor furnace i hope to be able to keep going for a few more years
harold

Harold,
I'm in a similar boat, at 66 I'm not looking for something that pays back in 15 years. With that said, those figures are at todays oil prices. If I put in a system and the goverment dumps 30% back in my pocket book and it cost me 15 or 16 grand I might go with it. I had a geo installer come over today and he figured I'd need a 4 ton system. The cheapest is the well-dump but I'm not in love with it. He's going to get back to me with the particulars on the well versus the pond versus horizontal and verticle ground loops.
Personally I think 4 tons is more than I need, I'll bet this place can run on 3 but he's the pro and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Rob

 

[Rob-D]

We have in-floor radiant heat, ergo the liquid accumulator. Our system is water-to-water, not water-to-air.

You're 100% right about the learning curve, it's pretty steep with "new" technology and the pressure of building a new house added on top.

The folks we used for the geo system were pretty patient, taking the time to explain the benefits of outside temperature sensors to automatically adjust the floor water temperature to what best suited the daily conditions, and slab temp sensors to give us a base-line temperature setting for cold nights and warm sunny winter days. The concrete slab is slow to heat and cool, so it's tricky managing room temps.

Sean

Sean,
I have radiant also, I think it's ideal for Geo. I have 1-1/2 inches of wood above it so I have to watch out for sudden temperature variables, like at night when the sun goes down and the temperature follows.
The installe told me that I can use the geo to assist in heating when that happens by dumping hot air through the air conditioning ducts at those times. I'll have to look further into it.

Rob

Rob

 

[71bronco]

We put geothermal in last spring with 6 200 foot loops put in with a line boring machine. They are between 16 and 20 feet deep and the only places I had the yard messed up was where they dug a trench about 12' long to tie them all together with a manifold and by the house to run it in the basement.I replaced a 15 year old heat pump that wouldn't even keep the house cool in the summer with a system that will keep the temp at whatever I want for a whole lot less money. With 30% back from Uncle Sam it was a great decision.

Jeff

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Personally I think 4 tons is more than I need, I'll bet this place can run on 3 but he's the pro and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Rob

Have him calculate the size for you. The geothermal design software needs the numbers. Demand to see the design for your house. Many AC units are oversized, going by the existing tonage isn't always good.

 

[Rob-D]

Have him calculate the size for you. The geothermal design software needs the numbers. Demand to see the design for your house. Many AC units are oversized, going by the existing tonage isn't always good.

Thanks!

 

[Chilly807]

We had some different numbers at first as well. One contractor wanted to install a 5-ton unit, the one we finally went with is a 3-ton, which is the right size based on the last three winters we've spent here.

The calculation is based on window area, square footage, wind exposure, insulation values, estimated heat loss, etc.

Sean

 

[Redneck in training]

We heat and cool 2400 sqft plus 1800 heated only. Our unit is 4.5 kW producing about 18.5 kW of heating/cooling.
My observation was that during very cold windy nights (-10 to -15F) the geo run almost constantly keeping the temperature of the liquid at about 80 F. Therefore I have the temperature SP set to 80F for all heating season.
1 ton=3.5 kW=12000BTU/hour. So our geo is 18.5/3.5 = about 5 ton.