# Geothermal



## MossyHorns (Apr 14, 2011)

d_rek said:


> Not using gas for appliances or hot water?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That's correct! I have an electric water heater and stove.


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## vans (Jan 26, 2006)

another thing to consider is backup power, you best have a big generator to run geothermal, and if your heat strips come on??


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## dead short (Sep 15, 2009)

vans said:


> another thing to consider is backup power, you best have a big generator to run geothermal, and if your heat strips come on??


A while house 20kW should do it. $$$


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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

dead short said:


> A while house 20kW should do it. $$$


It depends. If you're trying to run both panels and everything on them... sure...

But if you're selective about what breakers you want to flip you don't need a genny that big. 13, 15 or 17kw might be enough.


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## dead short (Sep 15, 2009)

d_rek said:


> It depends. If you're trying to run both panels and everything on them... sure...
> 
> But if you're selective about what breakers you want to flip you don't need a genny that big. 13, 15 or 17kw might be enough.


Just going by what our installer suggested. Pretty cost prohibitive irregardless. The generator we have will run the fireplace blower, water pump, and as many lights as we need.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

The last I knew, geothermal won't remove moisture from the air in a house. So, while it will warm, and cool the air, moisture will build up if not removed.


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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

Fishndude said:


> The last I knew, geothermal won't remove moisture from the air in a house. So, while it will warm, and cool the air, moisture will build up if not removed.


Uh... air conditioning aka AC whether traditionally installed on a gas furnace or with your geo collects condensation and removes it from the air. Not all of it, but enough for you to feel comfortable versus 60+% RH of the outdoor air. 

And in the winter geo will add a little humidity to your home by way of condensate in the heat exchanger. Which is typically what you want in the winter as the air is much dryer (less than 45% RH). Also that’s why people add humidifiers to their gas furnaces so the air stays comfortable in the winter. Otherwise forced air furnaces generally produce very “dry” air. 

Not to be rude but this is a really misinformed comment for several reasons and really adds nothing to the discussion. You could take what you said and apply it to any hvac system and it would still not be correct. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Hauptmann6 (Oct 19, 2012)

Fishndude said:


> The last I knew, geothermal won't remove moisture from the air in a house. So, while it will warm, and cool the air, moisture will build up if not removed.


That's completely false. A geothermal heat pump as a water cooled air conditioner in the summer. The only difference between it and a normal air conditioner is it doesn't have a radiator and a fan pulling the hot air out. It either dumps the heat into the ground or exchanged it into water. It uses the same refrigerants as any other unit. You have the same 20 degree delta between return and supply(if set up correctly) and you get the normal amount of dehumidification. Probably around 50-60% RH. I've worked on hundreds of them, they ALL have a condensate line that comes out of the evaporater coil, and when running in AC mode, water is dumping out of that line. 

In heating mode it's reversed. But it will NOT add humidity to the air without a humidifier. Without adding water through a humidifier just air going over a hot coil. grains of moisture in = grains of moisture out.


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## paperhead (Feb 1, 2005)

I have a water furnace geo system. My house is 2100 sq ft. It costs me around 800$ to heat my house a year. When I had propane it was costing 1600 to 2400 a year. It cost me 14000 to have it installed 8 years ago. If propane or fuel oil is all that's available the geo is the way to go. Have them install a soft start on your system if you have a whole house generator. I have 10kw heat strips installed also. I chose water furnace because of the 10 year warranty.


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## 4 Car Garage (May 30, 2008)

Does anyone know how to find a leak it the ground loop? Assuming it will need to be dug up.


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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

4 Car Garage said:


> Does anyone know how to find a leak it the ground loop? Assuming it will need to be dug up.


An installer/hvac guy will have to come and test the loop pressure. They have a special vacuum-pump tool that they use to do this.


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