geotherm

agrace

I've been convinced by all of those of you with experience to build ICF in Florida. Even checked out one in progress--literally will take a 4+ hurricane to do it damage!
Seriously considering geotherm for HVAC system. I understand the desupersaturater for hot water while cooling as it extracts heat to heat water in a reg. water tank. They recommend an electric one not plugged in.
Question: Is there only "free" hot water available while airconditioning runs? How well does it work in the winter when switching to heat or will I have to plug the electric tank in and go from there. (If thats the case, can I use a gas hot water tank for storage and just fire it up if needed?)
Also, they have 5 different systems to choose from ie good, better, best anyone know how that translates into what a neophyte wants--how much does it cost and how good does it work for the dollar spent!

Thanks for any help/advice sorting this out

geo fan

The ECR Industry's ( Earthlink ) system has 2 options for desuperheaters, passive ( only using your warming tank as a heat sink for heat collected in ac) or priority ( will switch on a hot gas bypass to heat water on demand during heating or cooling) With the home in fl. either option will be good considering you are cooling domonant. While heating water with geo to 130 still is extremely eff. there are a few potential issues set up with a dedicated warming tank 40gal. max and set it for 120 ( if priority) and have a second tank or tankless second stage to heat it the additional 10-15 degrees, and the reason is simple heating water over 120 you get into the law of deminising returns meaning your system has to run longer and longer the hoter the water you are trying to heat gets , while it still out preforms any other heat source it gets allot closer , with water source systems if you dont have a dedicated warming tank you can add to the load of the system when the tank is at full temp. any way desuperheater = two tank set up is best and well worth the additional investment ( not much). These systems realy no mater what usualy have at most a 10 year return on investment not including deducting the cost of a standard system and the added value to your home . Out preforms my IRA

Huskyfox

I have seen systems in michigan cost $600-700 a year for operating heating, cooling and hot water. The install cost up in michigan is around $12,000-20,000.00 to install. For the hot water it has a hot water generator to make up for half of the hot water the other half is from the upper element on the water heater you dont even use the lower element. As for the cooling is great and the heating in flordia should be no problem. In michigan you have to install a heat strip in the unit to help with the heat. I am use to Bryant systems. This site has a bit of information for you hope it helps http://www.popularmechanics.com/how_...c/1274631.html

geo fan

12-20k is a steal ( does that include ductwork) most prices average between 6-10 k per ton full install in my area

Huskyfox

Wow really, We have a company come in a dig the trenches or drill down in to the ground, I wonder if its the type of soil you have. We have mostly clay and silt in our ground.