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Old 12-30-2022, 12:00 PM
cdrookie cdrookie is offline
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Default Geothermal questions

I'm looking into going with a geothermal system. I've done a search and seen a few people here have gone that route for a number of years now. Everyone seems to have a different philosophy as far as depth and number of holes. I've had recommendations on 3 ,4,and 5 ton units, hole depth, install time, and prices vary significantly.

We are currently heating with fuel oil and I'm figuring the geothermal would pay for itself in 5-8yrs, depending on the cost of oil and weather conditions of course. It's about 3000 sq/ft basement and main living area. The upstairs isn't ducted to the oil furnace and is on it's own heat pump so I'm not factoring that in.

I know someone who has 2 holes at 250' with a 3 ton. He said during this recent cold snap his house wouldn't get above 60* but when the temp rose to 13* he was back to the normal 70*.

Can anyone give insight as to drilling 1 hole 800-1000' vs drilling 5 holes at 180-200'? The deeper hole guys and going with the 3-4 ton unit where as the shallower hole people are 4-5 ton. There's still the 30% tax break given, money is always an issue but I'd pay for deeper drilling if it's going to make a big difference. Also I've been told a week to a month for complete installation, which goes along with price, of course I'd prefer to have it done as soon as possible but would wait for performance.

Thanks!

  #2  
Old 12-30-2022, 01:14 PM
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Bills Auto Works Bills Auto Works is offline
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I will be following along with this one as we are considering going the same route with our house during the enlargement & renovation of it!

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...closed.614419/

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Old 12-30-2022, 02:00 PM
KSZR KSZR is offline
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We had some issues with a tiny freon leak and finally got that fixed under warranty. Ours is about 10 years old.

As far as the geo, it takes a lot of electricity to heat, more than we thought it would. Not as much for the AC. Some power companies give a rebate up front, others a separate meter with lower rate.

We've got a 5 loop system. In the 30-50mph winds and sub zero temp last week it was close but did keep up the 68 set temp. You can run the backup electric in these situations to keep up if needed.

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Old 12-30-2022, 07:31 PM
cdrookie cdrookie is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KSZR View Post
We had some issues with a tiny freon leak and finally got that fixed under warranty. Ours is about 10 years old.

As far as the geo, it takes a lot of electricity to heat, more than we thought it would. Not as much for the AC. Some power companies give a rebate up front, others a separate meter with lower rate.

We've got a 5 loop system. In the 30-50mph winds and sub zero temp last week it was close but did keep up the 68 set temp. You can run the backup electric in these situations to keep up if needed.
Right now our electric runs around $130/month. The guy I know with it said his went up around $40/month in the winter and not much at all during the summer. That's definitely something I should look into though. Thanks

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Old 12-31-2022, 02:29 PM
comanchefirebird comanchefirebird is online now
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Hi
I doubt if well depth makes much difference. The ground temperature doesn't really change much once you are down a few feet.

I live on a farm in Ontario, Canada and therefore have lots of area around the house. I just had an excavator in and we ran a main pipe out from the house basement as a header line and then ran loops of pipe out 5 trenches dug out about 7-feet deep. Total of approx 3000 ft of pipe was buried.

Installed the system 12 years ago. It easily heats our one and a half story 1860 brick house (approx 2500 sq ft), preheats the water going into the electric water heater, and provides excellent air conditioning all summer. We did not do any in-floor heating as all the floors are 2" thick pine plank so just went forced air ductwork like a conventional furnace.

Performance has been flawless for 12 years now. The unit does have an electric back up but we have never used it (have left the breaker off since new, just tested it once to make sure it works).
Yes, the hydro electric bill did go up some, but not having to buy heating oil or propane certainly more than makes up for it

Steve

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Old 12-31-2022, 04:10 PM
cdrookie cdrookie is offline
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Good info Steve, thanks. Sounds like you have a cool house also.

  #7  
Old 01-01-2023, 05:53 PM
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4dblnkldude 4dblnkldude is offline
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I live in SE PA, and have worked with a half a dozen or so well contractors over the years. Never has one drilled a hole more than 300 feet for a geothermal system. Even in houses with 25-35 tons of heating/cooling. The main reason why is because you will chew up flow centers quicker and the horizontal tubing counts as vertical bore feet. So its a little less drilling up front. I suppose if you have one system and only one flow center a deep well will work, but it will be tough on those pumps. Generally you need about 160 bore feet per ton.

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Old 01-01-2023, 10:47 PM
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I have a geo too. 3 Ton system with 3 wells 150 feet deep each and packed with grout. My first unit ( a Bosch) failed after 9 years due to plating on the coil flaking off and freon leaching through the coil. My replacement ( A Waterfurnace) works better than the Bosch ever did. My average electric bill is $230 year round, and that includes heating and cooling my shop (1600 sq ft) with a 3 ton Mitsubishi mini-split.

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  #9  
Old 01-02-2023, 02:26 AM
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Jack Gifford Jack Gifford is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cdrookie View Post
... Can anyone give insight as to drilling 1 hole 800-1000'...
First- are you truly talking about geothermal heating= as opposed to a ground-based heat pump? Regarding geothermal, I looked at Wikipedia for earth temperatures at varying depths. A rough calculation shows the temperature at 1,000' to be about 70 degrees F. So I can't foresee any potential for true geothermal structure heating at anything less than 1000'. What do the geothermal professionals say?

Edit: Re-reading this thread, it appears that none of the posts pertain to geothermal heating.

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Old 01-03-2023, 05:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Gifford View Post
First- are you truly talking about geothermal heating= as opposed to a ground-based heat pump? Regarding geothermal, I looked at Wikipedia for earth temperatures at varying depths. A rough calculation shows the temperature at 1,000' to be about 70 degrees F. So I can't foresee any potential for true geothermal structure heating at anything less than 1000'. What do the geothermal professionals say?

Edit: Re-reading this thread, it appears that none of the posts pertain to geothermal heating.
Mine did.

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  #11  
Old 01-03-2023, 05:05 PM
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Sorry did not mean to hit post. The bosch one are made in china.

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  #12  
Old 01-06-2023, 02:58 PM
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Bills Auto Works Bills Auto Works is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4dblnkldude View Post
Mine did.
MOST DID!

I watched the contractor install GEOTHERMAL HEATING in the ground for my Parents who built a house next door to me about 11 years ago...NOT a Heat Pump type heating system! I am following along to see what some others do just in case theirs was not the most efficient or if things have gotten more efficient in the last 10 years!

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...closed.614419/

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1955 Chevy Altered W.B. Gasser
1955 Nash Ambassador Custom Lemans
1957 Chieftan 2dr HT
1964 Grand Prix
1966 Catalina Conv. 421
1966 Ambassador DPL 2dr HT
1966 Ambassador Cust. 2 DR HT
1967 Marlin
1967 Toronado
1973 Nova Full Chassis Car
1992 Jag XJS Conv
1992 Jag XJS Coupe
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  #13  
Old 01-07-2023, 02:12 AM
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I won't apologize for being a stickler about language. Please read this definition of "geothermal heating".
And I'll save you looking up the thermal gradient below the earth's surface. It's approximately 75 degrees F per mile.
So... this entire thread concerns heat pumps.
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