New team member saying hello

[Nflight]

NeoGen - Your right they are too expensive for a single home owner to engage in such a refined approach. Geothermal heating and cooling is much better if you approach the equation supplying for several homes at the same time. This type of thinking is called Distributed Generation. (A link for that) NeoGen I can not tell you how much knowledge you need if your interested in pursuing this equation, but I can tell you ask the prospective dealers lots of questions - then ask me to make sure their answers were similar. Gee what questions do I need to ask you say, if your curious I can work up a few to ask when we get to that point. Geothermal is location specific, the land the site will be located on and the insulation the home is equipped with will determine your savings year round!

As for expense yes nothing in renewable energy is cheap!

[Tamaster]

Well... if I lived somewhere that the temperature didn't diverge so dramatically from the ground temperature @ 60" down (pretty constant approx. 50 degrees F) then it wouldn't be worth doing. But, I'm gaining up to 75 degrees during winter and up to 55 degrees during summer, which is significant. It beats the hell out of the high-efficiency heat pump it is replacing. That and I'm in this for the long run due to my planning to stay in my house long enough for it to pay. I expect to recover the cost from the tax credit, selling off my old equipment and pocketing a conservative savings of at least $1000/year. Being in the country rules out 'sharing' the costs with other homeowners. Standard disclaimers apply. Your mileage may vary, batteries not included, etc. etc... And yes, I did my due diligence and had a thermal load analysis done along with getting three bids from competing contractors who were recommended by friends with prior experience with them. And on top of that, I'm going to be performing a whole list of improvements over a multi-year schedule to seal leaks, improve R-factor ratings and incrementally fix things that detract from the ability of the system to work at peak efficiency. No, it isn't cheap. You takes your chances and pays your dues...

[Nflight]

Tamaster and NeoGen here are some images that really explain the DX Expansion of Geothermal #1 http://www.altdotenergy.com/wp-conte...ph-heating.jpg and the next is here:http://enerquest.ca/images/Ground-So...Pump_Cycle.gif both of them give you a deciding effort at eclipsing the problems of using just hot or cool air for the your home. Even if you need hot water it is possible from Geothermal heat like Tamaster is using. But once again it is not a cheap option.

[Tamaster]

We completed the outside work on Wednesday ('600 equivalent of buried capacity in a rather complex dual-folded linear stub arrangement) and the inside work today (including the plumbing for hot water generation). The ground loop took quite a bit of back-hoe digging and consumed more yard than I expected (though I had enough). We only ran into a cluster of limestone with the largest weighing perhaps around 100 pounds (easily dealt with). This spring I'll hire someone to bring a tractor and re-grade it after it has had time to settle in this winter. We had a good crew of 6 experienced guys doing the conversion.

All in all, it went smoothly...

The improved air handler capacity is already making a world of difference. We are still in the check-out mode of operation and now we are having un-seasonably warm weather so heat isn't even needed. Sheesh! I want to see this thing WORK!

Oh well... I'm sure it'll be getting back to the cold stuff real soon.

[shotgunner101]

I live in Indiana aswell I live near Jeffersonville!!! Hoosiers ftw :P.