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Vertical well, but closed loop? 150-200 feet per ton of capacity? HPDE pipe in Bentonite/silica grout?
I would guess a "pump and dump" water producing well would be problematic.
I've been looking at ground sourced heat pumps myself but struggling a bit to make the dollars work, even with the Fed/State credits. Seems like the sweet spot is around a 3 ton package system with zoning. Unfortunately the ducts we have don't run that way ... so its a package in the crawl and an indoor split for the second floor which gets pricey.
Are you looking at a two speed scroll compressor/variable speed air handler? EERs around 27/COPs around 4.6 ? The new inverter based variable speed compressors look like the future, but I'm not big on being bleeding edge for things like HVAC.
DM me if you want to compare notes - especially on local contractors.
Vertical well, but closed loop? 150-200 feet per ton of capacity? HPDE pipe in Bentonite/silica grout?
I would guess a "pump and dump" water producing well would be problematic.
I've been looking at ground sourced heat pumps myself but struggling a bit to make the dollars work, even with the Fed/State credits. Seems like the sweet spot is around a 3 ton package system with zoning. Unfortunately the ducts we have don't run that way ... so its a package in the crawl and an indoor split for the second floor which gets pricey.
Are you looking at a two speed scroll compressor/variable speed air handler? EERs around 27/COPs around 4.6 ? The new inverter based variable speed compressors look like the future, but I'm not big on being bleeding edge for things like HVAC.
DM me if you want to compare notes - especially on local contractors.
Thanks.
Frank
Because there is a cap on the state credit, it is still cost prohibitive to drill. Plus the destruction to landscaping if you do not have much land. I was getting quotes of ~$50K for a 6 ton system to do all 3 floors and $32K for a 3 ton system to do just the 1st floor and basement. The way the math works, the state credits stop at $24K total price - after that point you are paying 70% of the cost. I couldn't justify the premium expense when the current equipment was still functioning or newer conventional equipment could be had for much less even when you factored in tax credits.
Last post from me for a while - one last milestone. My first megawatt produced in a single 30 day period:
I'll be curious to see how this pans out throughout the summer. If you look on the city-data graph for sunshine in Raleigh, it peaks in March/April and then drops off again for May/June/July/Aug/Sept before popping up a bit for October.
Because there is a cap on the state credit, it is still cost prohibitive to drill. Plus the destruction to landscaping if you do not have much land. I was getting quotes of ~$50K for a 6 ton system to do all 3 floors and $32K for a 3 ton system to do just the 1st floor and basement. The way the math works, the state credits stop at $24K total price - after that point you are paying 70% of the cost. I couldn't justify the premium expense when the current equipment was still functioning or newer conventional equipment could be had for much less even when you factored in tax credits.
My math includes both systems failing soon which is inevitable. Comparing the after tax credit cost of geo with conventional SEER 19 units (which admittedly are way high in price but still only 2/3 as efficient as geo), the geo replacement is within a few $k in cost and will more than easily save that cost delta in power savings in the first year or two alone.
I'll be curious to see how this pans out throughout the summer. If you look on the city-data graph for sunshine in Raleigh, it peaks in March/April and then drops off again for May/June/July/Aug/Sept before popping up a bit for October.
That isn't a very good graph - it doesn't say what the data represents. Is that hours of sunshine? Sun intensity? We have no idea.
Look at page 1 of this thread and you'll see this image:
The Solar Est column shows the estimated production for each month of the year. The highest numbers are in April through August. This means on average, my best months are yet to come and we should see peak numbers even higher soon.
That graph is out of date for my house as it doesn't include the newer array I added in January, but I should start seeing months with well over 1000kWh of production very soon if weather is good.
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