Do you have any recommendations on geothermal installers? I can't find many guys that know much about it.
I'm in Northern Utah, so we're a little cold for a traditional air-source heat pump system. Also, I've got three acres, so plenty of land to do a horizontal closed loop system. I'm on shore power that is relatively cheap at $0.09/kwh so the increased electric usage appears to be preferable over a propane forced air system by the numbers I've been running.
I have two water furnace pumps with horizontal loops and live in north idaho. House is 5800sqft my biggest bill in the winter has been $400(usually closer to $300) and I average about $120 in the summer, that's all electricity used. And we have big windows. The tax credit was worth 30% of the install cost, I think that's still available. We've been in the house almost 8 years and I figure based on some local guys I know it paid for itself two years ago versus most other systems. We were -10 in December and a guy I know with radiant and a propane boiler had to get an emergency refill. I added $20 to the normal bill for the month. We use the AC all summer too, that's where the efficiency shines. If you don't use AC radiant might look better, but I couldn't see the point of ducts for AC and radiant loops.
Definitely, I wouldn't look at ductless. It sounds like they stepped over dollars to pick up dimes.
...do you know why??
Yes. But don't ask me to do the math. Thermodynamics was 20 years ago. Ductless and geothermal loops work on the same principles. Transferring heat between and condenser or a ground loop(or water loop in some cases). The difference is in a geothermal unit you're transferring to/from the ground which remains constant temp once you hit a depth of about 4 feet. The efficiency of the transfer is proportional to the temperature differential between the coil(or loop) and the transfer medium(air or ground). Since the ground temp doesn't change and the desired temperature of your house is relatively consistent a geothermal loop remains efficient to the point where the transfer between the R value of your house and the exterior governs. If you're using a heat pump that transfers to the air, when air temp drops you begin losing efficiency on that transfer as well as on transfer based on the R value of the house. There are ways to decrease this loss, but it is a Law of Thermodynamics, it can be mitigated but not overcome.
LOL. Does it matter? It's a piece of **** system designed to cut corners on the build. You get what you pay for.
lol.....I know what you are saying.
