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Old 05-01-2009, 08:06 PM
 
Location: Bucksport, Maine and northern Florida
90 posts, read 302,740 times
Reputation: 45

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Hello all!

Has anyone here been involved with installing geothermal heat pumps in the Bucksport/Bangor, Maine area?

I am looking into developing a system and installing it under a future 24' x 28' addition off to one of my cape cod-style home.

This addition will be part indoor conservatory and part bedroom. The bedroom portion will be over a full height basement and the conservatory will be on a gravel floor with only the footing and foundation wall to support the walls and roof. For this part the gravel floor will have radiant heating installed in it to keep the space a moderate temperature.

The GHP would be used to pre-heat my hot water and FHW heating in winter as well as cooling in summer.

I am thinking about a closed-loop system with an Earth-friendly coolant buried approximately 8 feet below the radiant heating.

TIA

Ralph
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Old 05-01-2009, 10:40 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,461 posts, read 61,379,739 times
Reputation: 30414
It has been tried.

There are many contractors who hope to make tonnes of money if they can get such a system to work here.

On Saturday mornings from 7am until 10am on 103.9FM is a radio talk show "Hot and Cold".

A UM professor and a heating guy host the show. They have both done hundreds of test sites trying out dozens of 'new' technologies. Very knowledgible men they are.

Call in and ask them. Or just listen, you will learn a great deal.

They do talk about thermal heat pumps commonly and the issues in such systems in Maine.
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Old 05-02-2009, 05:52 AM
 
Location: Waldo County
1,220 posts, read 3,933,535 times
Reputation: 1415
Quote:
Originally Posted by truckmen View Post
Hello all!

Has anyone here been involved with installing geothermal heat pumps in the Bucksport/Bangor, Maine area?

I am looking into developing a system and installing it under a future 24' x 28' addition off to one of my cape cod-style home.

This addition will be part indoor conservatory and part bedroom. The bedroom portion will be over a full height basement and the conservatory will be on a gravel floor with only the footing and foundation wall to support the walls and roof. For this part the gravel floor will have radiant heating installed in it to keep the space a moderate temperature.

The GHP would be used to pre-heat my hot water and FHW heating in winter as well as cooling in summer.

I am thinking about a closed-loop system with an Earth-friendly coolant buried approximately 8 feet below the radiant heating.

TIA

Ralph
I guess I am not clear about what you are calling a "geothermal heat pump". From what you wrote, it would appear that you are thinking of installing a closed loop that contains a transfer medium beneath a gravel floor with the idea that the loop will keep the space with the gravel floor warm.

Simply put: it won't work.

A geothermal heat pump of any type, takes the medium that is circulated, either through a loop or water from deep in a well, and runs it through a device not unlike an air conditioner. The ground temperature which will be around 50 degrees, is then raised to the point where it will provide heat that is then transfered to the occupied space. This is Charles Law in physics where an increase in pressure will yield an increase in temperature.

But if you are going to have a loop underneath gravel, you will radiate heat downward as well as upward unless you pour the gravel floor on a big thick slab of insulation, and even then, the heated gravel won't radiate heat very well, unless the walls of the surrounding space are exceptionally well insulated also.

Ground source heat pumps (or the new high efficiency air source heat pumps) work extremely well where ever properly installed. But they are NOT just a different source of heat that is cheap or free. To being with the amount of insulation is critical, and the way that it is installed must be done deliberately to support geothermal heat pumps.

Also the loop that you would use would likely be several hundred feet long, based on the size of the house you mention. The heat pump will need to have probably at least two tons of output, in air conditioning compressor terms. The installation will be a fairly significant front end cost.

But the most serious limitation to using geothermal energy in Maine is the cost of electricity here. Geothermal and other types of heat pumps use electricity in the pumping and pressurizing of the heat pump systems. About three months ago I had Maritime Geothermal in Pedicodiac New Brunswick they have a web site) compute the size of ground source heat pump that I might need for a cape style house of less than 2000 square feet. The heat pump in question would have used 2500 watts when running, which made it simply out of the question at that point, when considering Maine electric rates that can be counted on only to rise in the future.

I have been studying geothermal heat pumps for our new retirement home for the past fifteen years, and have come to the conclusion that they would not be appropriate for us since we will be building and living "off grid". Here in Maine the chief issue with heat pumps is the cost of electricity and the relative little insulation that people put in their new homes, and the little amount of insulation that people have in older homes. The combination of those two issues kill the concept of heat pump use.

I suggest that you look at this web site: www.passivehouse.us for information about low energy heating. Passive House is a movement in northern Europe where it is becoming the energy and building code for new home construction.
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Old 05-02-2009, 11:37 AM
 
Location: Bucksport, Maine and northern Florida
90 posts, read 302,740 times
Reputation: 45
Hello Forest Beekeeper and Acadian Lion,

Thank you both kindly for taking the time to reply.
I have read both and find that I have my homework cut out for me.
Nonetheless, I am intrigued and will look at the website Acadian Lion mentioned as well as look into listening in on 103.4FM (Ah, I missed it THIS morning). I can see that there are some serious challenges but I will study the sources given.

Thanks again, folks. :-)

Ralph M Bohm
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Old 05-02-2009, 07:00 PM
 
Location: Northern Maine
10,428 posts, read 18,679,925 times
Reputation: 11563
Kudos to those above with real valid advice above. Nobody has ever saved money in Maine by using a geothermal heating system. Simply said, it is the most expensive heating system you can install in Maine and you will likely be cold.
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Old 05-02-2009, 09:38 PM
 
973 posts, read 2,381,332 times
Reputation: 1322
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man View Post
Nobody has ever saved money in Maine by using a geothermal heating system. Simply said, it is the most expensive heating system you can install in Maine and you will likely be cold.
I'm not so sure I would agree with that. I know of a 4000 sq ft house in Houlton that has a Nordic heat pump from New Brunswick that averaged $350 a month during the past winter for electric, which drove the heat pump plus whatever other electrical needs. I'm pretty sure a 4000 sq ft house would have run over $100 a month just for electric, so it's very much in the ball park for heating. Let the oil man make another run which is coming and it will be a bargain. Key is in the combination of insulation and geothermal...and we will all see it down the road.
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Old 05-03-2009, 07:14 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,461 posts, read 61,379,739 times
Reputation: 30414
Quote:
Originally Posted by kellysmith
I'm not so sure I would agree with that. I know of a 4000 sq ft house in Houlton that has a Nordic heat pump from New Brunswick that averaged $350 a month during the past winter for electric, which drove the heat pump plus whatever other electrical needs. I'm pretty sure a 4000 sq ft house would have run over $100 a month just for electric, so it's very much in the ball park for heating. Let the oil man make another run which is coming and it will be a bargain. Key is in the combination of insulation and geothermal...and we will all see it down the road.
'Nuetral balanced' homes are a big deal on 'Hot and Cold'. Homes where the heat from cooking, body heat, your TV and stereo; al add up to be enough to maintain your home at a comfortable temp through the winter.

Folks do call in and ask commonly about heat pumps. The hosts rattle off various examples of heat pumps in the state; they appear to be very familiar with each attempt to run heat pumps. To change their design enough to make them economic to operate.

My question about the home your talking about is; why is it such a secret?

4000sq ft is a large home, and $350/month for electric is a fairly high electric bill.

So it kind of puts this house of yours on par with wood heat.

I wonder why we have not been hearing more about this house.
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Old 05-03-2009, 11:39 AM
 
973 posts, read 2,381,332 times
Reputation: 1322
Quote:
Originally Posted by forest beekeeper View Post
My question about the home your talking about is; why is it such a secret?

4000sq ft is a large home, and $350/month for electric is a fairly high electric bill.

So it kind of puts this house of yours on par with wood heat.

I wonder why we have not been hearing more about this house.
Who said it's a secret. I've posted several times that geothermal systems are going in up in the County. Harbison's Plumbing has done at least a half dozen in the past six months. Folks are satisfied with them. $350 for electric costs during the winter on a 4000 sq ft house that includes heating is extremely cost effective in my eyes. There are plenty of houses in the county that are heated by burning 100 gallons of fuel oil a week. There are people moving out of houses into apartments because they can't afford the cost of heating them.
County people aren't the type that typically toot their own horn. I do feel however that everytime someone posts about geothermal that standard answer shouldn't be it won't work...they at least should be made aware that it's out there and from what I see tends to be working...at least installations sized correctly and done correctly. I'm sure Harbison's would have much information and be able to show a potential customer installations that are working.
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Old 05-03-2009, 04:54 PM
 
Location: Northern Maine
10,428 posts, read 18,679,925 times
Reputation: 11563
In a super-insulated house with R-40 or R-50 ratings those numbers are certainly attainable. Costs for such insulation are very high and impractical for existing homes. The common example is that "you can heat such a home with a candle". Compare apples with apples and again, "nobody has ever saved money in Maine by using a geothermal heating system".

Hey, the University of Maine would love to find one that saves money.
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Old 05-03-2009, 05:20 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,461 posts, read 61,379,739 times
Reputation: 30414
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man View Post
In a super-insulated house with R-40 or R-50 ratings those numbers are certainly attainable. Costs for such insulation are very high and impractical for existing homes. The common example is that "you can heat such a home with a candle". Compare apples with apples and again, "nobody has ever saved money in Maine by using a geothermal heating system".

Hey, the University of Maine would love to find one that saves money.
Well darn, if your going to add proper insulation, then you cheating.

With enough insulation a house can be heated cooking dinner, and from the heat radiating from the back of your TV.

We have R-60 and it is a rain-forest half the winter. Must find a way to deal with the humidity.



I do enjoy listening to the UM professor talk about insulation and heating systems though
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