I have been going round and round with my geo installer on weather my system is working properly. Today my installer told me my electricity cost will improve after a year due to the ground settling around the loops. Does this sound logical or are they feeding me more bs? I have another geo company going out this week to test the system is there anything in preticulure that I should ask about? They said they check ground temp, water temp in and out and heat loss at the vents. sorry for the newbie questions. thanks, Mike

I think its possible there might be some improvement, however measuring it and determining if it did might be pretty darn hard. I am
taking daily Kwh meter readings and recording my Heating degree days hoping to see a pattern that might eventually help in seeing
if there is an improvement that along with keeping track of my EWT readings. So far I know pretty much what to expect but we havent
had a full winter yet. There are those who purchased and installed the welserver, it looks like it could really provide lots of information
and give a person a good view of power usage but the costs and technical expertise to install it look very challengeing.

How are you taking daily kwh readings?

I use the utility meter, I have monthly usage from prior years so I know pretty close what my appliances
computers, lights are using although this is only a estimate, I figure 25kwh for that with a reading of 75kwh that gives me 50kwh for the geo usage, i can't parse out the water heater though, that would have to be another estimate.

You might see some improvement, you might be short looped. We really need more info to give you much help

What kind of info would be helpful? Sorry I am very new to Geo and am trying to figure it out. Thanks, Mike

I don't know if this will help but I have a 2 story 1800 sq ft home with a 800sq ft basement(unfinished) which has 2 zones. New construction with a 3.5ton (i think) hydro heat megatek protocol. I also have a gas water heater. I live in iowa and last month my usage was 2,404 kwh with a average temp being 12 degree F and I have the heat set at 68 degrees. My electric bill was 191.57 which seemed high.

Water temps in and out of geo unit would really help us assess your system. $191 doesn't sound to high - there are folks here paying 2-5 times that.

I have a different company coming out of friday to measure that so I'll post up when I get the info.

I have a couple of buddies with geo down the street that are paying about $100-$120 with larger houses with the exemption being they have ranch houses.  Are those cheaper to heat/cool?

A ranch style might cost less to heat. Your EWT and LWT ( Water temps in and out of geo unit) will tell us a lot. Has your aux heat been on at all?

I don't think that's high bill. I paid $383 for about 2200KW last month with 3 ton and about the same square footage as yours. I live in NJ

As a comparison, my 3 ton system used 1693 KWh between 12/14/08 and 1/13/09, in that same time there were 1256 heating degree days in my area. I have a submeter attached to my geothermal system so I can tell exactly what it is drawing in KWhrs.

The closest weather station I could find in you area was Iowa City, I quickly pulled up the last 3 years of heating degree days from that station:

2006
November HDD = 1011
December HDD = 1287

2007
November HDD = 1314
December HDD = 1418

2008
November HDD = 1420
December HDD = 1556

The higher the HDD value that means the more your heating system had to work to keep your home warm. So, from this data, it looks like 2008 was the coldest of the last three years with 2006 being relatively mild in comparison. So, when you compare your heating bills/demand, this can help you decide whether your system is working appropriately.

This is by no means the only component of your analysis, but it helps with understanding why bills may be higher one year over another.

Now that I think of it I am the only one with a gas water heater out of 6 people I know.  So your saying that the gas water heater is creating a vacuum for say and sucking in cold air which in turn is making the Geo work overtime.  That makes sense since my largest electric bill was in january when we had 4 friends staying with us for a week.  The more showers equal the need for more hot water.  The average temp was 10 degrees warmer than last month but my bill was $67 more expensive makes sense now.

Sounds interesting Eric, might be a great poll to take.
Re ranches vs 2 story, I generally find greater heat loss SF on ranch homes.
J

your use sounds pretty good to me. my el. runs over 100 a month and i have a gas water heater. so you heated your house for 80 bux that includes an el. water heater. our propane here is 2.13 a gal so i burn wood i think if i can heat my home for 80.00 the tractor and the chain saw will be put up. so far this winter i have went though 200 gal of propane wihile still burning wood. with a 2 story house i think you are in good shpe for your 80.00

bob

by the way one thing i would do is get a water hose out there and get that ground moved to your pipe if things arent settled yet. this would help a lot if he didnt take this step.

bob

I would say more important than absolute square footage or configuration is insulation levels and construction technique (tightness). If their houses were built with SIP's 2 or 3 years ago, and you're in an 1800s farm house, I'd say you might find more costs. Usually this would impact system tonnage which equalizes some, but not entirely. There's also the possibility you are setting the temperature down at night and up in the morning which in winter for geo system designed towards heating, can cost more to operate because of resistance heat coming on.
Is that amount your total electric bill or is your geo on a separate meter? If it is whole house, the variables between you and your neighbors can sky rocket making it impossible to say what is the difference.

The water temps are really needed to answer your original question.

In general, ranch type houses lose more heat / sf.  The second floor acts as insulation for the bottom floor and vice versa.

Your gas water heater is very unlikely to be causing enough draft to amount to much.  Unlikely - but not impossible.

Caulk your windows, reseal your doors, check your insulation in the attic.  Close your drapes/blinds at night. Those things may help significantly with your utility bills.

I have no idea if the aux has been, or thermostats don't display. Should have mentioned that the 2nd zone (upstairs) was just added 2 weeks ago so maybe that will help with the usage.