Open Loop Geothermal

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  • Alan D. Hyde
    Senior Member
    • Jul 2000
    • 7338

    Open Loop Geothermal

    Anyone here got it?

    What's your secondary heat source?

    How do you deliver your heat thruout the building?

    How do you like it?

    Other thoughts?

    Alan
  • Fitz
    Wood Canoe Nut
    • Mar 2001
    • 2822

    #2
    Geothermal:

    Wish I did have it, especially with the price that oil will be this winter.

    I think forced hot air is the best delivery, then you can have AC as well.

    Why Open Loop? - I think you need two wells or two galleries in that case. Closed loop can be done more easily???
    "Wherever there is a channel for water, there is a road for the canoe. " - Thoreau

    Comment

    • alteran
      Senior Member
      • Nov 2003
      • 1663

      #3
      Neighbor has it. Forced air, electric for backup.
      He likes it, another neighbor has the closed loop underground. He likes it as well.

      I recently built a home and didn't use it because of intial cost. Instead built extremely tight, foam form basement and high efficency boiler. Return on invesment was better.

      Comment

      • meerkat
        Senior Member #4667
        • Feb 2002
        • 21774

        #4
        Not exactly geothermal, but the German designed/owned housing complex we lived in in Munich, Germany had a central boiler for the whole complex (probably over 100 multi-apartment buildings). Steam radiator system, worked great (although, we where close to the central plant co-located with the hospital). As a side benefit there was enough heat loss from the pipe trunks under the sidewalks that they never had to be cleared when it snowed.
        If you don't think for yourself, someone else will do it for you!

        Comment

        • Ron Williamson
          Rocketman
          • Apr 2000
          • 7880

          #5
          Open loop would be great in an area with a high water table(Like my shop) or near a reasonably sized body of water.
          R
          Sleep with one eye open.

          Comment

          • Esox
            Senior Member
            • Nov 2001
            • 623

            #6
            What Ron said. Closed loop is OK too, but you must be careful how deep it gets buried, I have seen closed loop pipes surrounded by frost here rendering the system useless. Long term payback either way though. We are required to discharge the water from an open loop system to the depth from which it was gathered, and drilling two wells can be very costly. I have also seen closed loop system ice up when in a body of water.
            May I be half the man my dogs think I am.

            Comment

            • mqnada
              CS-17 "BANDALOOP"
              • Mar 2000
              • 3943

              #7
              In-laws have a closed loop system with forced air delivery. It's about 20 years old now and has had a few breakdowns, but overall it seems to work OK. They do have auxilary resistance heaters installed, which was a lifesaver when the system went on the fritz when we were visiting, outside temps ranging from 0-25 F for a week. Getting someone qualified to work on it has been an issue in their remote west Texas town.

              Comment

              • Victor
                Senior Member
                • Apr 2004
                • 2655

                #8
                Unless you live in an area with mild winters, the info I got is that it's grossly inefficient. Only warms the air about 20 degrees above ambient. Good for A/C, if hot air is your thing. The last thing you want to use if you want to get maximum heating from your system.

                Comment

                • Alan D. Hyde
                  Senior Member
                  • Jul 2000
                  • 7338

                  #9
                  The property's on a watercourse, so open loop is easy enough.

                  Ground temperature is at about 59 degrees, so geothermal can get you there, but something else is needed if that's not warm enough for you: gas is most economical around here (IF it were just me, 55 with sweaters would be agreeable enough).

                  How to best distribute heat around a house is debatable. Forced air dries the air, and takes up considerable room (with ducts) but is often thought to be the cheapest, and is certainly the most commonly installed around here. Hot water is better than steam (more thermal mass, less rust problems) but has its own negatives. Some systems use oil or other non-freezable liquids in place of hot water.

                  Alan

                  P.S. A modern version of the old Roman hypocaust might not be such a bad idea.

                  Comment

                  • Keith Wilson
                    Trying to be reasonable
                    • Oct 1999
                    • 64114

                    #10
                    A modern version of the old Roman hypocaust might not be such a bad idea.
                    Traditional Korean houses have ondol, something quite similar. It's more effective if one sleeps and sits mostly on the floor, as Koreans did, rather than on raised furnitiure.

                    [ 08-23-2004, 12:28 PM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]
                    "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations,
                    for nature cannot be fooled."

                    Richard Feynman

                    Comment

                    • Ron Williamson
                      Rocketman
                      • Apr 2000
                      • 7880

                      #11
                      I wouldn't worry too much about supplemental heat sources.
                      I know a guy with a family of five and about 4K sq.ft.of house(sprayed urethane foam insulated)who has no difficulty using an AIR source heat pump with electric supplement.According to him,the only time it's used is when the thermostat is actually turned up.

                      He had a programmable set-back t'stat that he quit using because it was costing more money.His t'stat sits at 18C all the time.
                      R
                      Sleep with one eye open.

                      Comment

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