Re: Crazy gas saving scheme, will it work?
I'm probably showing my ignorance here, but besides the obvious (well water instead of a dedicated passive ground loop; presumably used for cooling only), isn't that just a type of geothermal heat pump?
How could anyone reasonably doubt it's effectiveness?
What are your thoughts on the implications of using well water vs. a dedicated ground loop? I.e., electricity cost to run your well pump much more than you would otherwise, long term wear & tear on your well & equipment, etc. Obviously in the short term you're saving $$$, just wondered if you think your short term savings might be mitigated somewhat in the long term by those other costs/ factors (as compared to a dedicated ground loop system). And no, i don't expect them to be 'mitigated' to the point of costing more than retro installation of a dedicated ground loop : ).
For the life of me, I don't know why we can't (don't) utilize geothermal systems to a much greater extent than we do. I know that dropping circulating loops for a geothermal system is expensive, but I've gotta believe costs would come down significantly if we did it a lot more (as contractors became familiar with it and the technology improved)... Your thoughts?
The reason anyone doubted the system design was mainly because of lack of complete understanding of how the system works. Many commercially produced geothermal heat exchangers are a tube-within-a-tube which is exactly what I built; I just did it on the cheap. As far as the wear and tear on the system goes, I'm not running a lot of volume of water as it doesn't take much flow to make the heat exchange. Even with the ground loop you still have a pump dedicated to circulating the exchange fluid through the loop. With anything mechanical there is always the potential for failure, the well pump motor can fail just as the condenser fan can on a regular condenser. I have municipal water so the well was only used for irrigation; I now capture rainwater in a cistern from my roof that is used for irrigation so the well is right now only used for my air conditioning.
I agree, we should be doing a lot more geothermal systems; I am a general contractor and I know why it isn't done more. It is upfront cost; unfortunately most buyers aren't looking at long-term and overall cost, they are interested in how much this 3/2 costs versus that 3/2. There is going to have to be a major shift in consumer thinking; unfortunately it may take something like $4.00 a gallon gasoline. Oh, wait that's here now!
I am currently doing a home here in Florida that is totally off-grid, uses 100% captured rainwater for all of the household water use. That water is filtered dependent on end use, then the greywater is sent through a constructed wetlands inside the home that grows plants for food as well as filtering the water that is then used for toilet flushing. The blackwater is sent to a solar septic tank that speeds up anerobic processes, the effluent is then sent through an exterior constructed wetlands which contains things like duck potato, papyrus, reed, willow, and cattail as well as other tuber plants that extract heavy metals, excess nitrates, phosphates, and pathogens; in addition, there is a microcosm of bacteria that forms on the root system of the plants that further cleans the water to a point where it is safe for irrigation usage outside. The permitting process has been an arduous process for this home because it is different. I have partnered with some local universities to do testing on the water quality to report to the state who is issuing an innovative use permit for the onsite wastewater treatment system. Doing this build we are having workshops to try and promote some of these sustainable practices and show people the practicality of some of the systems. That way if gasoline ever gets to $4.00 a gallon, people can start saving money at home so we can help keep big oil afloat!
