Any geothermal energy users?

I am faced with the need to replace my central heat/air system. My current system is 25 years old and the a/c has given up the ghost so am looking to do a replacement of both systems. I would like input from people who have experience with the various options of geothermal systems. I've done a bit of research and have reviewed options. I know it is more expensive to install but I also know that it will cut my energy costs. My current system uses propane for heat and electricity for air conditioning.

If you have experience with these systems I would very much value hearing about which system you use and your thoughts on the matter.

a reply to: diggindirt

I think that it really depends on so many factors.

Here in New Zealand, there are places where we can directly heat water from volcanic geo heat. The government has regulated some of that due to environmental impact.

But I'm assuming you are talking about geothermal heat pump systems. I'm wondering if there is any advantage over atmospheric heat pump systems?

Yes, I installed/run it on a lodge in Iowa. Its the best
What questions do you have?

You don't need to run the geo loops to have nice radiant floor heat, so you can cut big costs there.

With geo loops your basically working with about 50degree water year round, so you need a small boiler/res and HOD water heater. It takes the 50 degree water then brings it up to 80 or whatever. It is then run through the furnace like a condenser/radiator, then the floor.

The heat is much more even and doesn't dry you out as bad as forced air. It maintains temp, but is slow to heat everything up if you leave the house on 50 so it doesn't freeze.

Being in construction all my life ( 52 )
For around 4000 I can build you a system that NEEDS NO heat pump or cooling pump in any climate .
Your home temp will stay between 70 - 80 year round Regardless of the out side temp . For a steady 75 % inside it would take 7 to 10 k $ .
Also your electric usage will drop by a minim of Half of the cost( usage now )
Frankly I dont understand why people dont use the system ( oo I have ran accross parts of it here and there but at such a low cost and little to maintain it it does make one wonder .
Some bigger buildings do have a big part of the system btw and it cuts running cost alot '
I keep telling my son give me a 1000 ill build the main part and your electric will drop 175 $ a month .
and this is Florida No cooling needed Immange that .

That is a simly system that only requires duct work and snal shell fan .
For something a little more elaborate that could reduce you electric use by 75 % would take around 10 k.
Nice thing is NO solar cells needed NO special high teck knowledge needed No special primits needed .

I have also desinged a washer dryer That uses NO heat thus needs only 110 to run and the really neat thing is wash dry same machine and the cost of drying near nothing and time drying 3 - 5 mints
so a normal wash run of 35 mints becomes 40 mints to wash and dry .
ONE machine .
ps and ONLY one thing added to a good type washer .

a reply to: diggindirt

While I only have a little first hand experience, I can tell you your results may astound you.
I dropped a coil of pipe down an old well, but not into the water, and run a coolant gas through it. A liquid, such as water, would be hard on a pump and/or compressor. This is returned to a modified heat pump which exchanges the temps from inside the house. I use a couple of ceiling fans in the summer and a small propane heater in the winter. Its pilot light is almost enough to heat the whole house.

A school near my home dug up the football field several years ago and buried plastic pipes for their geothermal system. The next year, the first graders wore coats during the hot days and shorts during the winter. Well, it was not quite that drastic, but since their rooms were in the section of the building which is below ground and the nearest to the field, they got the full brunt of the changes. But their rooms stay about the same temp year round.
This is a very rural area without a lot of financial resources, but the county found a way to convert all the schools to geothermal since then. Everyone has been impressed with the savings on heating and cooling the buildings and the maintainance cost has all but vanished.

a reply to: diggindirt

You're talking about drilling down close enough to the Earth's mantle to draw heat as a power source? At your house?? Like the Russian "entrance to hell" borehole where they drilled so deep that the heat was melting their drill bits?

Ok...just don't forget to call the hotline before you dig, so you don't damage any buried lines or cables


You might also want to go ahead and give a call to the Department Of Deep Underground Military Bases.

a reply to: Mandroid7
Okay---here are my questions: Was this installation done at the time of construction?

I'm very interested in radiant heat but wondering about how that is done on the upper story of the house. The first floor wouldn't be a problem since I have a basement.

My current system is a 4 ton unit if that matters. I don't need a lot of cooling, actually a dehumidifier in the summer is more important than cooling since I designed the house to have good circulation and have trees shading the place for a goodly portion of the day. I also have ceiling fans in every room. The heating portion of the system supplements the fireplace in winter. Unless I have guests staying on the second floor, very little supplementation is needed until the weather gets down to the freezing mark. The house is very well insulated.

As I understand the information I've studied on the net I have three choices of design. One included digging a well for an "open loop" system. I already have a well so I'm wondering if I can use the existing well.

Then there is the closed loop system which can be installed either horizontally or vertically. Since I'm not short on land, the horizontal trenching would seem to be more cost effective than digging down a hundred feet or more.

If I do a horizontal trench, would the maintenance of that area be about the same as with a septic field? Keep the trees out of it and keep it mowed?

Then there is also an option of digging a pond and placing the coils there. Since I'm trying to reduce the amount of maintenance required, I'm not big on this option because a pond requires quite a bit of that.

I'll be meeting with the guy who will be doing the installation next week and just need to weed down the questions I'll need to ask him since I don't want to waste his time.

The thought of reducing my energy costs is most appealing. Not having to fill that propane tank nearly as often sounds like music to my ears. Not having electric bills of over $100/month in summer really sounds good too.

Thank you for your time in answering my questions. I'm a recent widow and have never had to deal with these systems because my husband took care of that sort of thing. We had discussed this change-over, knowing that our 25 year-old HVAC was nearing the end of its usefulness but being hit with several things at once (I'm also going to be getting a new roof shortly) has seemed overwhelming at times. I do appreciate any help you can give me on making this decision.

a reply to: chr0naut
Indeed there are many factors to consider. Which type of system---open or closed---horizontal or vertical....buried in the dirt or housed in a pond/lake.

From the research I've done, it seems that this system will reduce my use of propane and electricity significantly because it is far more efficient, getting it's energy from the constant temperature of the earth. If I understand what I've read I will also have an option to have the heat removed from the house in summer to heat my water---another significant savings of propane.

Here is where I started my research: www.energy.gov... It gives a good overview.

originally posted by: 3n19m470
a reply to: diggindirt

You're talking about drilling down close enough to the Earth's mantle to draw heat as a power source? At your house?? Like the Russian "entrance to hell" borehole where they drilled so deep that the heat was melting their drill bits?

Most people are just going to get access to underground temperatures which don't vary a lot year round. They tend to stay in a fairly narrow range so if the surface gets really cold, the underground temps are warmer, and if the surface gets really hot, the underground temps are cooler. That's most places, but there are exceptions.

One notable exception is iceland where heat from inside the Earth gets very close to the surface

Geothermal energy in Iceland

Iceland is one of the most dynamic volcanic regions in the world. Shaped by fierce natural forces, straddling the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the activity of divergent tectonic plates brings heat and magma closer to the earth´s surface, Iceland holds enormous geothermal resources.

They get so much they can even use it for power generation.

Iceland is not the only place where heat from the Earth can be accessed near the surface, think of anywhere there are "hot springs" for example. But even without that heat from the earth, geothermal can make sense because of the fairly stable temperatures underground.