All About Geothermal Heating Systems And How They Save Energy

[TTL News 308]

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If you dig down about five feet or so in the ground to below the frost level, you will find the ground temperature to be amazingly constant, 40 degrees to 70 degrees F (4–21 degrees C), depending on the location.

It is cooler than the air in the summer and warmer in the winter. The earth’s subsurface is an enormous heat sink — a solar battery — and it takes a large amount of energy to keep it in equilibrium. This heat energy comes in great part from the sun, a renewable and inexhaustible source of energy. In lesser amounts, it also comes from the center of the earth that we now know is a heat generator. The inner core of the earth is primarily made of a solid sphere of iron within a larger sphere of molten iron. Calculations show that the earth, originating from a molten state many billions of years ago, would have cooled and become completely solid without an energy input. It is now believed that the ultimate source of this energy is radioactive decay within the earth that continues to this day; the decay produces gradually diminishing temperatures from the earth’s center to the surface. This does not mean that dangerous radioactivity is a hazard to us. We can tap into all of this heat energy, transfer it into our home for heating and return that energy back to the earth during cooling: thus we are really borrowing heat from the earth.

Geothermal units use the same 100-year-old technology found in your refrigerator. They are both devices that move heat energy. It is worth noting that the refrigerator is the most reliable, longest-life appliance in your home. As the diagram in the slideshow (above) explains, a refrigerator removes heat energy from food and moves it into your kitchen. A geothermal system removes heat energy from the earth to heat your home and in the summer removes heat energy from inside your home back to the earth.

 

Read more here.

[Hal 341]

Another “ right there in front of your face “ technology, simple but still a little mind boggling…or is that just me ?! 

[Chris 2,158]

Well, given our project had been delayed I can’t really say it’s “in front of your face”. 😂

[Chris 2,158]

One of the drillers was here today I guess. The permitting process is in progress, and we're waiting to hear if they have a start date planned. My guess is they're going to drill then cap, and finish when they can. 

[Hal 341]

1 hour ago, Chris said:

One of the drillers was here today I guess. The permitting process is in progress, and we're waiting to hear if they have a start date planned. My guess is they're going to drill then cap, and finish when they can. 

It’s a start ! 

[Chris 2,158]

Drilling has commenced:

I was expecting a helluva lot more noise and banging into the ground, but nope, it's quieter than I thought. Our yard is gonna be toast though. So far only one neighbor has texted to ask, "What's that noise, it sounds like it's coming from up your way." I responded, "Yeah you could say that," and sent her a pic. 

We're told the project should be complete by the end of January. Which means if the weather hold out, and they stay on schedule, we may use up the last of our wood and oil and not need to buy more. 

[Hal 341]

Anyone drive off the road and into the field from rubbernecking while doing 80mph yet ?  

[Chris 2,158]

3 hours ago, Hal said:

Anyone drive off the road and into the field from rubbernecking while doing 80mph yet ?  

Not yet, and since our barn and fence is in the field lets keep it that way. 

[Hal 341]

Funny heavy equipment noise coming from about a mile down the road ! Sound sure travels up through the vally ! 🤔😂👍

[Chris 2,158]

1 hour ago, Hal said:

Funny heavy equipment noise coming from about a mile down the road ! Sound sure travels up through the vally ! 🤔😂👍

Yeah so I'm told. 😏

Good news: The company that installs the loop and the actual unit showed up. I went outside to say "hi" and asked him some questions, which turned into he and I looking over the basement and attic and the work that will need to be done. He suggested we switch back to the furnace, not the boiler, and use up the fuel oil in the tank; he says the companies WON'T take it back. I am very happy with his responses to my questions, and if all goes according to their plan he seems to think we'll be on geothermal before Christmas.

[Chris 2,158]

Guys are here, presumably for the week, as the install began at 9am today. I was just told the old furnace is unhooked and on its way out the door. They'll bring the new unit in and start hooking it up with hopes to be able to run it on electric tonight. It's a little more costly to run it on electric, but it's temporary. In the meantime I can keep the house temp up with the propane fireplace. 

[Chris 2,158]

The guys left at 4 ( they have to drive back to Penn Yan ) and they have the unit hooked up and running on electric. My concerns about the electric back up running were unfounded, as the head guy said it'll cost like $10 to run it that way for a couple days until we're on Mother Earth heat. Right now the blower is a little loud, but he said it won't be that way once it's all done. 

They've done a lot more than I expected them to, and gone what I'd say is above and beyond in workmanship. So far I'm pretty happy with the company doing the actual hands on work. 

[Chris 2,158]

While there’s still some work to be done, we are now on geothermal heat. So far it’s pretty cool, or should I say, warm. The fan self-regulates, depending on how much heat is being called for. Last night it was running on electric heat, on a high setting, and was noisy but now it’s pretty quiet.

With the weather being so warm I feel like we won’t get a real feel for how it works until things get colder.

[Chris 2,158]

The guys are finishing up the installation as we speak, shouldn't be too much longer. 

Today they hooked it up to a server of its own which sends data to them, mostly if there's a malfunction. They'll know about it as soon as, if not before, we do. We can also adjust our temp from the computer or phone with a virtual thermostat:

We can also monitor how it's operating some:

And then it will keep track of electricity used:

They told us this thing was state of art, and they weren't kidding. It basically a big computer with a pump and a fan.

[Chris 2,158]

So just an update:

Any skepticism I may have secretly had is gone. Between the better insulation and this new system, the house is always nice and warm. And it's a constant, steady warm. It's ALWAYS maintained at the temp you want it. None of the, "Man it's freezing" until the thermostat gets below the desired temp. Honestly, there's nights where it's too warm since we keep it between 68-70, more towards the low end at night. ( The reason for this is you don't want fluctuations in temp demands, it makes the system use more electricity that way. )

Also, I don't miss hauling firewood through a foot of snow. Or having to load the boiler. Or dealing with malfunctions. 

We can track the power usage and the estimated electricity costs as well:

January was colder than a brass monkey, so we can guess that this would be "peak usage" to heat the home. Translating that into dollars, and assuming a cost of 0.15 per kWh:

I'm guessing the cost to heat our home will be no more than $120. Far cheaper than fuel oil or firewood. Additionally, we can guess that as the temp warms up outside, it'll be less. And, from what I gather, it uses far less energy to cool the house, since it just circulates the cold from under ground. I've read that it barely costs anything in the Summer months. 

So the salesman's pitch that it would increase our electricity bill by about $1,200 a year wasn't BS, at least so far. 

Of course these big savings are not taking into account the cost of the project, which amounts to about a car payment. Our goal is to pay that off as fast as possible. But it's nice to know that once it's paid for, we're only looking at $100 - $120 or so a month to heat the house. 

[Chris 2,158]

We're moving into cooling weather now, and we've had that running the past couple days. 

I'm still waiting to see better cooling upstairs. I suspect as the weather gets consistently hotter outside and this thing is running more, that will occur. There's now an air return in each upstairs bedroom so I think that will play out well. 

Downstairs? You can hang meat. I blocked off the bathroom vent so i can still pee standing up and one of the vents in the living room to see if it pushes more air upstairs. Very comfortable indoors, and I'm hopeful it will continue to work well as the humidity increases outside. 

Energy usage is supposedly much less with cooling, we'll see. Here's how we are so far:

Our highest usage was January for obvious reasons, and it only was $94 ( at estimated 0.15/kWh ).