geothermal heat pumps

[heehaw]

i finally found the article about geothermal heat pumps; a couple of the comments that seem important; some utility companies will help with the $$ of installation; at the time of the article, sacramento municipal utility would pay $4000; solid rock is the best medium for tranferring heat; air source heat pumps have air temp of about 80 degrees; the geothermal has 110 degree; the compressor is placed inside the house instead of outside; several shallow wells are usually cheaper than one deep one; the loops can be shared, in some communities, 50 houses draw from one centrally located loop; the loop can be in deep ditches, in verticle holes [wells] or in the bottom of a pond.
heehaw

 

[mdbarb]

I'm seriously consideing geothermal for my upcoming major remodel. Where can I get more info?

 

[heehaw]

how close are you to sacramento???? the power company there was pushing them..go to www.dougrye.com, get his number an give him a call; he works with companies all over the U.S., puttin in geothermal units..
heehas

 

[mdbarb]

I'm in Marin County. I checked his web page, but didn't feel compelled to buy a few videos, sight unseen. Did you purchase these? what did you think?

 

[heehaw]

i've seen his videos, if your planning on building a house, it is well worth the investment; his energy ideas will save you a lot of money; here in arkansas; he guarantees heating and cooling cost of $40-50 a month for a 2000 sq ft house if you build to his specs; and it only adds $1000 to the total cost of a house..i thought he would have his office phone number on his web site; i'll see if i can get his number, you could call him; he "may" know somewhere in your area to get geothermal information; doug ryes number is 501-455-2305; he does say, if your not going to stay there for ???? go with a high eff furnace instead; it takes a while for the payback of geothermal..
i don't have a clue how far marin county is from sacramento??
heehaw

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by heehaw on 01/20/01 11:15 AM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Anonymous Poster]

A good basic document is Kevin Rafferty's "An Information Survival Kit for the Prospective Geothermal Heat Pump Owner." It includes guidelines for making enery cost comparisons, addresses of different manufacturers, and efficiency ratings of different models. It can be downloaded from the Department of Energy's website (Sorry I don't know the URL, but I think you can get there by starting with www.doe.gov or it may be www.eren.doe.gov).

Other sources of information are:
International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) www.igshpa.okstate.edu

Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium www.ghpc.org

National Rural Electric Coporative Research Division www.webplus.net/nreca/homepage.html

Electric Power Research Institute www.epri.com/information/aboutEPRI.html

Sound Geothermal Corp. www.soundgt.com

"Cost Containment of Ground Source Heat Pumps," S.K. Kavanaugh and C. Gilbrath, Tennessee Valley Authority, Chattanooga, TN

"Demand and Energy Study of High Efficiency Heating and Cooling Equipment in Oregon," S.K. Kavanaugh, Oregon Institute of Technology, Geo-Heat Center, Klamath Falls, OR

"Demand and Energy Study of High Efficiency Heating and Cooling Equipment in Georgia," S.K. Kavanaugh, Geo-Heat Center Quarterly Bulletin Vol 14, No. 1, Oregon Institute of Technology, Geo-Heat Center, Klamath Falls, OR

"Ground Coulping with Water Source heat Pumps," S.K. Kavanaugh. Sponsored by EPRI, Dallas, TX

"Ground and Water Source Heat Pumps: A Manual for the Design and Installation of Ground-Coupled, Groundwater and Lake Water Heating and Cooling Systems in Southern Climates," S.K. Kavanaugh, Energy Information Services, Tuscaloosa, AL

Also the University of Alabama in Huntsville has a center that has done a lot of research on solar energy; they may very well have also done research on GSHP.

Clay G, Ft. Davis, TX

 

[dmccarty]

mdbarb,

Besides the great list of information that was previously mentioned, the Sept 2000 issue of Fine Homebuilding had a good article on geothermal. Also check out the thread in Rural about building your own house/ICFs. We had a discussion on geothermal that might give you some more information.

Hope this helps....
Dan McCarty