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pghdave · 04-28-16, 10:08 PM

Just found this site tonight. I started thinking about Geothermal about 14 years ago when I acquired 3 Mcquay water source heat pumps two are 3 ton 1 is 2 ton although they are not rated for geothermal. These pumps sat in my basement until 3 years ago. At that time I decided to try utilizing 1 of the that summer I built a manifold off the swimming pool ran garden hoses to the house through a window and set up the heat pump. The heat pump worked very well at cooling the 1st floor even though no duct work was installed. When fall came I switched to heating mode and used the pool to heat my house all the way up to November. The second year I did the exact same thing. During the fall of last year I expanded my system using a 100 year old hand dug well in yard. The well is about 3.5 feet wide and 50 foot deep to the water. I installed a submersible pump and water line into basement. My first attempt was a partial success the heat pump worked for about 4 days then the well went dry. It took about 2 months for the well to recover. With the well running dry I had to try a different approach which consisted of a hose from the basement back to the well not knowing how long the water could sustain the system before loosing too much heat.I built a homeaid pressure tank from an old air compressor tank not wanting to spend to much until I could see if this would work. Long story short the water stayed above 45 degrees almost all winter. I did have the water drop below 40 in January which involved some more deep thought to keep it running. I had a 10 gallon water heater I installed on the water inlet found this would raise the water temp several degrees which was just enough to keep the system running. After my good luck I bought a proper pressure tank and installed i1 inch pvc supply and return lines. I have been able to run 2 heat pumps with this system 1 in the basement and 1 on the 1st floor. This system almost cut my electric bill in half. At this time I do not have duct work installed. I installed an automatic temperature control on the water heater that comes on at 43 degrees off at about 45. I plan to install permanent lines to the pool and valves to switch between pool and well depending on temp in pool. Still working on improving this system but has worked better than expected.

04-28-16, 10:08 PM	#1
pghdave Lurking Renovator Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 10 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Home built geothermal Just found this site tonight. I started thinking about Geothermal about 14 years ago when I acquired 3 Mcquay water source heat pumps two are 3 ton 1 is 2 ton although they are not rated for geothermal. These pumps sat in my basement until 3 years ago. At that time I decided to try utilizing 1 of the that summer I built a manifold off the swimming pool ran garden hoses to the house through a window and set up the heat pump. The heat pump worked very well at cooling the 1st floor even though no duct work was installed. When fall came I switched to heating mode and used the pool to heat my house all the way up to November. The second year I did the exact same thing. During the fall of last year I expanded my system using a 100 year old hand dug well in yard. The well is about 3.5 feet wide and 50 foot deep to the water. I installed a submersible pump and water line into basement. My first attempt was a partial success the heat pump worked for about 4 days then the well went dry. It took about 2 months for the well to recover. With the well running dry I had to try a different approach which consisted of a hose from the basement back to the well not knowing how long the water could sustain the system before loosing too much heat.I built a homeaid pressure tank from an old air compressor tank not wanting to spend to much until I could see if this would work. Long story short the water stayed above 45 degrees almost all winter. I did have the water drop below 40 in January which involved some more deep thought to keep it running. I had a 10 gallon water heater I installed on the water inlet found this would raise the water temp several degrees which was just enough to keep the system running. After my good luck I bought a proper pressure tank and installed i1 inch pvc supply and return lines. I have been able to run 2 heat pumps with this system 1 in the basement and 1 on the 1st floor. This system almost cut my electric bill in half. At this time I do not have duct work installed. I installed an automatic temperature control on the water heater that comes on at 43 degrees off at about 45. I plan to install permanent lines to the pool and valves to switch between pool and well depending on temp in pool. Still working on improving this system but has worked better than expected.