[Robotgroup] Residential Geothermal HVAC and Solar Energy..?

[Leslie Filip]

I looked at geothermal a while back just for kicks, but it makes a  
lot more sense now that energy prices are through the roof. What I  
learned was something that no geothermal installer will ever tell  
you, either because they don't know or don't care: Most systems will  
reach a new thermal equilibrium in roughly 20 years, becoming less  
and less efficient as time goes by. If you are lucky enough to dump  
heat into an underground river then you are good to go until 20 years  
after it runs dry.

Seriously thick insulation will give a very good return on  
investment, even though it always seems expensive to install it at  
first. You might consider a pre-fab house made of structural  
insulated panels, which can be very energy efficient and go up quickly.

You might also consider a dome if you are willing to go a non- 
traditional route. This will lower the surface area significantly.  
They can be as beautiful as they are efficient with a little  
forethought, but can also look worse than a monkey's ass if done wrong.

Take Care,
Les


On 19 May 2008, at 12:26 PM, Vern Graner wrote:

> Ok, as many of you know, Kym and I are getting ready to build a new
> house in Dripping Springs. We're now looking closely at trying to find
> ways to reduce the TCO of the house.
>
> The first thing we're exploring is possibly abandoning the "typical"
> freon-based HVAC system for a geothermal one.
>
> Some googling has shown a company called "Water Furnace". They have a
> video that describes their system here:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybfVoiN14HE
>
> We contacted them and they said they have a dealer in Austin and  
> one in
> San Antonio. The Austin dealer is:
>
> American Geothermal
> 11604 Tridens CT
> Austin, TX 78750
> 512-219-1465
>
> Does anyone have any experience with this company they can share  
> with me?
>
> Next up is the idea of fitting the house with Solar panels to  
> offset the
> electrical usage. I was thinking about using a battery-less system and
> pushing the power into the grid during the day and "buying it back" at
> night. At Earth day there was a company there called "Meridian Solar"
> advertising panels and installations:
>
> http://www.meridiansolar.com/
>
> We will be asking them for some pricing, but I'd like to know if  
> anyone
> has any experience with them as well.
>
> FWIW, I'm not interested in "living off the grid" as much as I am in
> cutting the energy costs of the house. My current house with all
> electric appliances, electric heating and cooling (I like very cold
> indoor temps in the summer!), and all the computers and electronics I
> run can sometimes drive my monthly electric bill as high as $500+!  
> Also,
> besides costs savings, solar panels and geothermal heating/cooling
> appeals to the techno-geek in me. ;)
>
> In both the above cases (solar & geothermal), one other thing I would
> like to know is if anyone here knows of state or federal grant  
> programs
> that offset the installation costs of a systems like these. As I am
> outside the City of Austin, I need to know what county/state/federal
> programs would apply.
>
> Any help on or offline is appreciated. TIA! :)
>
> Vern
>
> -- 
> Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE    | "If the network is down, then you're
> Senior Systems Engineer    | obviously incompetent so why are we
> Texas Information Services | paying you? Of course, if the network
> http://www.txis.com        | is up, then we obviously don't need
> Austin Office 512 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" ©VLG
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