CT Droid
CT Bot
Since this blog is the only one I have ever contributed to, and since our next project has at least *some* HA tie-in, I guess I'll just blab about it here.
We pondered getting a geothermal heatpump when we built our house in 2008, but the initial cost (+$20k) was more than we could handle. We also thought at the time that our fireplace we were putting in (we ended up with a lot of wood on the ground just clearing the lot) would do most of the heating in winter.
Well, after our "beta" winter in 2008/2009, it became clear that the fireplace wasn't going to cut it. It did *great* heating the upstairs of the house, due to our very open floorplan. Just leave the bedroom doors open, and they were quite comfortable. However, there was no way to get that heat to the first floor rooms, which all stayed uncomfortably cool. The original plan had been to use the HVAC fan (which I could control through CQC) to circulate the air to the first floor, so the fireplace would be heating the whole house. Well, the datanab temp sensor in the HVAC stack right above the fan told the truth about that...no matter how warm the upstairs was, the air wasn't getting above 65 at the fan...which meant it would be even colder once it came out the registers. So basically running the fan only cooled down the house. I guess that makes sense, as the cold air returns are largely just through vacant cavities in the interior walls, which no doubt bleeds a lot of heat into the wood and drywall.
So that left us with our air-exchange heat pump. And that was disappointing as well. On colder days (< 20 deg), the duct temp above the fan was barely getting above 80. And (as is typical with heat pumps), the air coming out the registers just felt cool if not cold. So I was overall just simply disappointed with the heating capabilities of the air exchange heat pump and fireplace.
Since I did not want to change to a direct fuel type of heat (we live out in the rural hills, so there is no natural gas option), that really only left geothermal. I had become a believer in the theory behind it. But overall, I wasn't really in it for the energy savings or the "green"-ness of it...I just wanted better heat.
After that first cold winter, we talked to the HVAC contractor who installed our existing system and asked for an estimate for a geothermal install. They came back with a quote for over $20k. I thought that was a bit surprising, since when we were building the house, they said it was $20k more than a standard install....so that would mean $20k even though we wouldn't be paying for the existing air exchange install. Now, without taking that into acocunt, it's still $20k. Hmmmm. Anyway, it was a good baseline, but also so much that we decided to give it another winter and see if it was really as cold in the house as we remember.
That brings us to today. The last winter was as cold as we remember. What is making it more attractive now is 1) We've managed to set aside some money, since this will be our one big project for the year (last year was the pole barn, year before the lawn), and 2) There's now the 30% tax rebates. When we were building the house, it was 30%, but limited to $1500 max. Now it's 30% unlimited. On a $20k install, that means over $6k back in tax reduction. A significant increase. What's more, Obama is pushing an increase to 50%, limited to $12k. THAT would be nice, but who knows what can get accomplished in Washington anymore...
Last weekend we had 4 contractors out, and I have 2 more well drillers scheduled and at least 1 more contractor. Given this will probably rank in the top 10 of most expensive decisions we've made, I'll probably take quite a bit of time to decide on this.
This thread is not open. If you wish to respond, please respond using the original blog entry link. View the original blog entry
We pondered getting a geothermal heatpump when we built our house in 2008, but the initial cost (+$20k) was more than we could handle. We also thought at the time that our fireplace we were putting in (we ended up with a lot of wood on the ground just clearing the lot) would do most of the heating in winter.
Well, after our "beta" winter in 2008/2009, it became clear that the fireplace wasn't going to cut it. It did *great* heating the upstairs of the house, due to our very open floorplan. Just leave the bedroom doors open, and they were quite comfortable. However, there was no way to get that heat to the first floor rooms, which all stayed uncomfortably cool. The original plan had been to use the HVAC fan (which I could control through CQC) to circulate the air to the first floor, so the fireplace would be heating the whole house. Well, the datanab temp sensor in the HVAC stack right above the fan told the truth about that...no matter how warm the upstairs was, the air wasn't getting above 65 at the fan...which meant it would be even colder once it came out the registers. So basically running the fan only cooled down the house. I guess that makes sense, as the cold air returns are largely just through vacant cavities in the interior walls, which no doubt bleeds a lot of heat into the wood and drywall.
So that left us with our air-exchange heat pump. And that was disappointing as well. On colder days (< 20 deg), the duct temp above the fan was barely getting above 80. And (as is typical with heat pumps), the air coming out the registers just felt cool if not cold. So I was overall just simply disappointed with the heating capabilities of the air exchange heat pump and fireplace.
Since I did not want to change to a direct fuel type of heat (we live out in the rural hills, so there is no natural gas option), that really only left geothermal. I had become a believer in the theory behind it. But overall, I wasn't really in it for the energy savings or the "green"-ness of it...I just wanted better heat.
After that first cold winter, we talked to the HVAC contractor who installed our existing system and asked for an estimate for a geothermal install. They came back with a quote for over $20k. I thought that was a bit surprising, since when we were building the house, they said it was $20k more than a standard install....so that would mean $20k even though we wouldn't be paying for the existing air exchange install. Now, without taking that into acocunt, it's still $20k. Hmmmm. Anyway, it was a good baseline, but also so much that we decided to give it another winter and see if it was really as cold in the house as we remember.
That brings us to today. The last winter was as cold as we remember. What is making it more attractive now is 1) We've managed to set aside some money, since this will be our one big project for the year (last year was the pole barn, year before the lawn), and 2) There's now the 30% tax rebates. When we were building the house, it was 30%, but limited to $1500 max. Now it's 30% unlimited. On a $20k install, that means over $6k back in tax reduction. A significant increase. What's more, Obama is pushing an increase to 50%, limited to $12k. THAT would be nice, but who knows what can get accomplished in Washington anymore...
Last weekend we had 4 contractors out, and I have 2 more well drillers scheduled and at least 1 more contractor. Given this will probably rank in the top 10 of most expensive decisions we've made, I'll probably take quite a bit of time to decide on this.
This thread is not open. If you wish to respond, please respond using the original blog entry link. View the original blog entry
