EcoRenovator - View Single Post - Has anyone ever done a DIY geothermal A/C?

Xringer · 02-15-09, 07:57 PM

Last year, I came to the realization that just about all AC units were heat pumps.
I had to see the block diagrams of both systems about 50 times, before it sunk in.

I did some heating experiments with a small AC and found it worked pretty well in air-to-air mode.

Here we are pumping heat inside on a cool day.. It worked fine. But it made a lot of racket..

I also did some testing in the basement, warming up a small room, using the cool air in the rest of the basement as my heat source.

I wanted to pump some water-to-air heat, but kinda lost interest when I saw
the Ductless mini-split AC&Heat stuff from Asia.

Here is the system I plan to buy this spring.
24KHS72 - Sanyo 24,200 BTU Heat Pump Air Conditioner Kit
I will use it to cool our house in the summer and heat it on most days in the winter.
It will work pretty well when it's really cold outdoors.
See chart on page 28 of the service manual.
http://sanyohvac.com/assets/document...SeriesRevB.pdf

What really excites me is these numbers:
♦ Power Supply Voltage/Phase/Hz: 230/208V / 1PH / 60Hz
♦ Running AMPS (Cooling) : 10.8/12.1 (1.2⇔12.1) Variable Speed

Meaning it will be using between 276 and 2484 watts to heat our house at up to 24,000 BTUh when it's frosty outdoors.

I plan to save a bundle on heating oil. We will only use oil when it's really cold. down in the single digits.

Compared to space heaters:
One of our old resistive space heater does one room using 1380 watts, putting out about 4,7000 BTU.
Turn the second heater in the den and we are using about 2760 watts and getting only 9,417 BTUh.

I also like the idea of owning a very efficient AC unit that will crank out some major cold air for those hot days of summer (July and August here).
---
As stated above, geothermal costs is super high.
To retrofit our home to geothermal, would cost more than we paid for the house..

If you compare the performance of the mini-split Sanyo (above) to Geothermal, you will see they are close. Very close.

I can't see paying 15 or 20 times as much money for a 2 ton unit..

If the mini-spit unit works well for us and the average power usage (w/o the old space heaters running) isn't real high, I just might try to run our AC & heat on PV panels during the daylight hours..

Well, I can dream can't I?

Cheers,
Rich

02-15-09, 07:57 PM	#15
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	Ductless.. Last year, I came to the realization that just about all AC units were heat pumps. I had to see the block diagrams of both systems about 50 times, before it sunk in. I did some heating experiments with a small AC and found it worked pretty well in air-to-air mode. Here we are pumping heat inside on a cool day.. It worked fine. But it made a lot of racket.. I also did some testing in the basement, warming up a small room, using the cool air in the rest of the basement as my heat source. I wanted to pump some water-to-air heat, but kinda lost interest when I saw the Ductless mini-split AC&Heat stuff from Asia. Here is the system I plan to buy this spring. 24KHS72 - Sanyo 24,200 BTU Heat Pump Air Conditioner Kit I will use it to cool our house in the summer and heat it on most days in the winter. It will work pretty well when it's really cold outdoors. See chart on page 28 of the service manual. http://sanyohvac.com/assets/document...SeriesRevB.pdf What really excites me is these numbers: ♦ Power Supply Voltage/Phase/Hz: 230/208V / 1PH / 60Hz ♦ Running AMPS (Cooling) : 10.8/12.1 (1.2⇔12.1) Variable Speed Meaning it will be using between 276 and 2484 watts to heat our house at up to 24,000 BTUh when it's frosty outdoors. I plan to save a bundle on heating oil. We will only use oil when it's really cold. down in the single digits. Compared to space heaters: One of our old resistive space heater does one room using 1380 watts, putting out about 4,7000 BTU. Turn the second heater in the den and we are using about 2760 watts and getting only 9,417 BTUh. I also like the idea of owning a very efficient AC unit that will crank out some major cold air for those hot days of summer (July and August here). --- As stated above, geothermal costs is super high. To retrofit our home to geothermal, would cost more than we paid for the house.. If you compare the performance of the mini-split Sanyo (above) to Geothermal, you will see they are close. Very close. I can't see paying 15 or 20 times as much money for a 2 ton unit.. If the mini-spit unit works well for us and the average power usage (w/o the old space heaters running) isn't real high, I just might try to run our AC & heat on PV panels during the daylight hours.. Well, I can dream can't I? Cheers, Rich