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| Geothermal Heat Pumps Geothermal systems are the most efficient method to heat your home. They are like standard heat pumps in that they draw heat from somewhere else and concentrate and then bring it into your house. Standard heat pump or air-to-air heat pump remove heat from the outside air. They do this by making the outside coil colder than the outside air thereby attracting heat to it. When the outside temp drops however they produce less and less heat and they need a back up heat system to take over and shoulder the load. Usually that system is electric resistance heat furnace but it could also be a gas furnace and that system would then be known as a dual fuel or hybrid heat system. Geothermal system get their heat from the ground or the earth thus their name ‘geo’ or earth. The earth is a lot warmer than the air and it remains at a more constant temperature than the air therefore the geothermal unit warms your home by itself down to a much lower outside temperature compared to the air to air variety. This makes them more efficient and less costly to operate. A geothermal system can lower your fuel bills up to 75%. They are however, more expensive to install. How Does a Geo Unit Work : The most common style of geo unit is the package unit. This system consists of a compressor and water coil section and the blower, air coil, and electric furnace section. The whole unit is installed in the house and connected to the duct system. You need to bring larger power wire to it much like an electric furnace. Typical system might have 3 240 volt circuits feeding it, 2- 60 amp circuits for the back up heat and 1 40 amp circuit for the compressor section. The water piping from the closed loops or the well are also attached to it. The geo needs a multi-stage thermostat to operate it especially if it a 2 stage compressor. It might have 3 stages of heat and 2 stages of cooling. On call for heat the compressor and the indoor blower come on. At the same time either the pump or a solenoid valve come sends the brine fluid to the water coil. The brine fluid usually is an antifreeze mixture of methanol or ethylene glycol. The compressor lowers the pressure and temperature in the freon or puron water coil causing it to be colder than the incoming fluid. The heat from the fluid is transferred to the freon or puron vapor. The vapor then is compressed and heated and sent to the inside air coil. The blower pushes the inside air over the coil and is warmed and then sent out the house to heat it. How the Geothermal System Gets the Heat Out of the Ground: There are four basic methods that are used to connect the geo unit to the earth, horizontal closed loop in the earth, horizontal loop in the water or pond, vertical loop, well system or open loop. Each of these systems has their pros and cons. I will place them in their order of expense. Horizontal Pond Loop: Least expensive because it requires least excavation (just the distance from house to pond). Pond needs to have some depth 10 to 12 feet on average so it won’t freeze solid on the loop. A boat is needed to bring the coiled loop out into the middle and drop it in with weights securely attached. Water in direct contact with the loop gives better heat transfer than earth or dirt. This system will have higher efficiency as a result. Well or Open Loop System: Less expensive if there is already an existing well that can provide year round 1.5 to 3 gallons of water per ton for the geo. If you have to dig a well then it becomes very expensive very quickly. Pros are better heat transfer of water, a higher water temperature than pond loop, and therefore a higher efficiency. Cons are all the impurities that come with well water. Unit will have higher maintenance cost long term including ‘acid’ treatment of the water coil to remove lime deposits. Horizontal Ground Loop: Moderately expensive and requires between 300 and 500’ feet of yard space to bury it. A 6’ deep, 18 to 24” wide trench is dug from the entry point to the house out into the yard. A triple layer loop is set at depths of 6’, 5’, and 4’ and then backfilled. The triple loops are manifolded into a larger pipe then brought into the house where they are hooked up to the pumps and unit. Cost to bury runs $1000 per ton. Loop is filled with 20% solution of either methanol or ethylene glycol. Con need a large yard with little trees and roots. Vertical Ground Loop: Most expensive. Multiple 150’ to 300’ deep (depth depends on soil conditions) holes are dug. Usually one hole for every 1.5 ton. Approximate cost per hole $2500 to $3000. Pro uses very little yard. Geothermal Benefits: Besides reducing your heat bill up to 75% they also will add to the resale value of your home. In addition there is a property tax reduction in Indiana for the portion of the cost of the geo unit vs the home cost. There is also a state tax rebate of $100. The federal tax credit is huge. 30% of the entire cost of the geothermal system is a tax credit. If the total to install was $20,000, that would amount to $6,000 back on your taxes. I sell Bryant Geothermal Heat Pumps (www.bryantgeo.com). They come with 10 years parts and 5 year puron circuit warranty. There is a $500 rebate available from Bryant for these units and right now they are offering an additional $750 bonus. There is lot of reason to go with a Geo and especially a Bryant. |
| CLICK HERE FOR A PRODUCT COMPARISON OF BRYANT GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMPS: http://www.bryant.com/products/geoheatpumps/comparison.shtml |
| CLICK HERE FOR A PRODUCT COMPARISON OF GOODMAN GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMPS: http://www.goodmanmfg.com/Home/tabid/1261/Default.aspx |