Installing ground Loops
phreich
I would humbly suggest, if you have the land avalible and soil type for a horizontal ground loop this is the way to go. Drilling bore holes is for smaller land parcels and special applications. There is a lot of work and money involved with building a drilling rig and then drilling the holes after which you still require trenches to couple the tubes then bring it into the house.
We had installed a horizontal ground loop. I had hired a large excavator to move the dirt quickly and the tracks left minimal damage to the lawn. By hiring a large machine the job is accomplished much quicker and actually keeping the costs down. I agree it is a bit of a mess for a season or two. But my lack of an oil bill makes me smile. The money saved after the second season more than paid for the grass seed and a little raking.
The install of the loop took 1 1/2 days. I agree about the slinky system the tubing for part of its coil is redundant. Our install is parallel and no closer than 16" from tube to tube The tube is also placed 6 ft. deep but this can change for different geographic locations (check with local installers). The climate here in Ontario Canada can be quite extreme and I wouldn't want any problems. After all we are looking for greater efficiencies. Overlapping coils and running tubes close together isn't going to gain you anything.
phreich wrote:
(when you need heat the ground at 4 feet is colder, and when you want cooling the ground at 4 feet is warmer). You will need to read-up a little more on the Geo-thermal magic to understand the beauty of these systems. Take a little time reading some of these posts all the information is here.
May I ask, why if you have natural gas do you wish to install Geo-thermal? I would say that the costs of operation are equivalent.
I had our Geo-thermal system for our home install professionally and for my shop I had done myself. Ground loop and the DIY heat-pump. It has been functioning well but it has had some issues. The best part is its saving me a bundle!! Natural gas is not an option here.
I believe possibly the best situation for these heat-pumps is this. YOU CAN MAKE ELECTRICITY!! We are now continplating a solar PV system. If you check the Builditsolar website there is another gentleman there that has done just that. Imaging no heat or electric bill.
Randen
|