Considering ground-source heat pump, advice or suggestions?

vulcancowboy · Jun 22, 2016

We have a salesman coming tomorrow to talk to us about a ground source heat pump. We currently have 2 conventional heat pumps with an oil-fired furnace as a backup. I know there are several threads on this topic, I'm just wondering if there are specific questions I should ask or any other advice that you can share.

KWentling · Jun 22, 2016

We are just starting our third year with a Water Furnace Series 7 on 4 200' dry wells (vertical loops you could say). We are very pleased with it. I swear the refrigerator makes more noise than this furnace. I guess the only advice I have is to make sure it is sized right. Ask for and check out references. This was our installers first system, but he used Water Furnace's assistance in the design and we went with an extra well to be sure. I don't even have the auxiliary heat strips hooked up and it has no problem keeping up even in -30F temps. It was 98F here yesterday. It works very well cooling too.

Kim

vulcancowboy · Jun 22, 2016

KWentling said:
We are just starting our third year with a Water Furnace Series 7 on 4 200' dry wells (vertical loops you could say). We are very pleased with it. I swear the refrigerator makes more noise than this furnace. I guess the only advice I have is to make sure it is sized right. Ask for and check out references. This was our installers first system, but he used Water Furnace's assistance in the design and we went with an extra well to be sure. I don't even have the auxiliary heat strips hooked up and it has no problem keeping up even in -30F temps. It was 98F here yesterday. It works very well cooling too.

Kim

Thanks, if we do it, we want to make sure it is right. I just had a conventional heat pump replaced about 4 years ago only to find it was sized too big. It doesn't run long enough to remove the humidity in the summer. Live and learn!

fordmantpw · Jun 22, 2016

We also have a Water Furnace Series 7. We have a 5 ton unit (also with an extra well), and we love it! As Kim mentioned, it is whisper quiet. I highly recommend Water Furnace. This is our second home with one, and my parents have had one for 15 years with one minor issue.

Spring for the 7 Series if you can. It is all variable, including the pump, compressor, and fan. This really helps keep noise down as well as the cost of operation. On average, over the course of the past 18 months in our new home, it costs about $25-30/month for HVAC. This is a 2500 sq-ft home (plus finished basement) with lots of large windows and a nearly all glass sun room on the West side of the house. We keep the temp at 75 in summer and 70 in winter. Even our HVAC contractor was amazed at the low cost of operation. Plus, you get free hot water in the process (make sure the unit has a de-superheater).

MacLawn · Jun 23, 2016

Wow, fordman, that is great for Missouri! I had geothermal man come a few months ago to look at my Georgia place. He said I could use 3 500' wells or the deep long ditches, about $500 more for the wells. My problem is a friend who has been an electrician for over 30 years keeps telling me they don't work good around here! His Dad had one, never was satisfied with it. He said the problem is our clay soil won't transfer the heat/cold good enough to the pipes underground. What do I know? Except I like what I've been researching on them for over 10 years now. Water Furnace would probably be my choice too.

davesl708 · Jun 23, 2016

I have the Water Furnace Envision 3 ton with 3 175' wells. Running for five years now. Still have five more years on the warranty for the inside unit. No issues and very low cost to operate. Replaced a convention HVAC with NG heat. Cost dropped $110 per month.

My situation is similar to Fordman. Last electric bill was $71 with a hot tub running 24/7.

Love not having that noisy outside unit and the very low heat/cool cost.

fordmantpw · Jun 23, 2016

MacLawn said:
Wow, fordman, that is great for Missouri! I had geothermal man come a few months ago to look at my Georgia place. He said I could use 3 500' wells or the deep long ditches, about $500 more for the wells. My problem is a friend who has been an electrician for over 30 years keeps telling me they don't work good around here! His Dad had one, never was satisfied with it. He said the problem is our clay soil won't transfer the heat/cold good enough to the pipes underground. What do I know? Except I like what I've been researching on them for over 10 years now. Water Furnace would probably be my choice too.

If you do vertical wells, then that takes the clay soil out of the question since it will be rock after the first few feet. We hit water fairly quick here (strange, since we are up on a big hill) which really helps the heat transfer.

davesl708 said:
Love not having that noisy outside unit and the very low heat/cool cost.

Definitely! That is one of the great advantages!

prichard · Jun 23, 2016

fordmantpw said:
We also have a Water Furnace Series 7. We have a 5 ton unit (also with an extra well), and we love it! As Kim mentioned, it is whisper quiet. I highly recommend Water Furnace. This is our second home with one, and my parents have had one for 15 years with one minor issue.

Spring for the 7 Series if you can. It is all variable, including the pump, compressor, and fan. This really helps keep noise down as well as the cost of operation. On average, over the course of the past 18 months in our new home, it costs about $25-30/month for HVAC. This is a 2500 sq-ft home (plus finished basement) with lots of large windows and a nearly all glass sun room on the West side of the house. We keep the temp at 75 in summer and 70 in winter. Even our HVAC contractor was amazed at the low cost of operation. Plus, you get free hot water in the process (make sure the unit has a de-superheater).

Can you tell me approximately how much more it was up front than conventional? I'm designing our last home and leaning towards these systems.

vulcancowboy · Jun 23, 2016

The salesman just left. His company sells Climatemaster systems. We would need two geo systems as we currently have 2 separate heat pumps with separate duct work. They do vertical loop systems. The geo units are 2 speed units. Initial cost guesstimate looks to be around $30-$35K before tax credits

. This is more than I was expecting. not sure I will live long enough to recoup that investment. :confused2::confused2: Thoughts?

KWentling · Jun 23, 2016

MacLawn said:
Wow, fordman, that is great for Missouri! I had geothermal man come a few months ago to look at my Georgia place. He said I could use 3 500' wells or the deep long ditches, about $500 more for the wells. My problem is a friend who has been an electrician for over 30 years keeps telling me they don't work good around here! His Dad had one, never was satisfied with it. He said the problem is our clay soil won't transfer the heat/cold good enough to the pipes underground. What do I know? Except I like what I've been researching on them for over 10 years now. Water Furnace would probably be my choice too.

I think geothermal gets a bad rap because there are, or at least were, installers that didn't know how to properly size them. My Dad had one installed in the early '80s in south central Nebraska on one well, that worked most of the time, but wasn't adequate in really cold temps. It should have had two wells. As fas as not transferring good in clay soils, if that were true, mine shouldn't work either, as mine is almost totally in clay here. My wells have no water table, so maybe I should just call them vertical loops.

Kim