First let me say really like this board, it has answered many questions already.

OK so heres my question today, its pretty basic so please don't laugh.

Can you install a geothermal loop, connect it to a heat exchanger, and then connect that to a radiant loop installed in concrete( a garage floor, or driveway for snow melting).  My thought is that if the geo loop was running at 52', and you get pretty good connectivey through the heat exchanger you could easily melt snow or keep a garage floor at or near 50' with just a pair of circulating pumps and a thermostat.  It sounds pretty simple and would love to install this system in my garage and/or driveway.   So will it work, and if not why?

I am located In Buffalo NY so you can see why I want to melt snow.

If it would work you wouldn't even need the heat exchanger. You could have one continuous loop through the ground and concrete interupted only by a pump and maybe a small reservoir.

However, my understanding is that it won't provide enough heat and you would need to add a heat pump on the loop. Someone out there has probably done all the engineering calcs but it is beyond me. Perhaps if you had enough loop but that might cost more than the heat pump?

Yes and no. Snow melt usually takes anywhere from 100 to 150 BTUh per square foot. The ground would have to have that kind of heat available without losing temperature. Theoretically, it could be done, but the ground loop would have to be enormous. That's where the heat pump comes in. Still, though, to do snowmelt, you'd need a lot of heat pump. From a 6 ton unit, using 52 deg. ground, you might be able to melt up to 360 sq. feet of snow. That's a lot.

However, a garage floor is different. Garages don't need near as much heat. But that also takes more design.

If you were me how many feet of a horizontal loop would you put in? I would like to keep the garage area warm in the winter, 50* would be balmy. THe garage will be aprox 100 sq ft.

I'm another newbie, so bear with me as well.  We live in Southern WV and are very interested in geothermal...waterfurnace is the only company I can seem to find online.  I actually have a local heating/cooling person coming out tomorrow for an estimate...he did a friends geothermal and so far, things are fine (we haven't had extreme weather yet and he paid out the waaazooo).  Does anyone know any other manufacturer's?  I'm a little nervous after reading everything about waterfurnace, not to mention the over the phone quote was really, really high (I know it's higher than traditional furnaces)  12K for 1600 sq ft AND we do our own digging.  Last year I spoke with someone NOT from waterfurnace who gave me an over the phone quote of 12K installed.  Any suggestions?

Checkout LINK. I wouldn't go with any other brand. It should save you money on the install, and give you higher efficiencies.

Hi. I'm Geogirl and am new to the forum. I've worked in the Geo industry for 5 years.
For newbie Ben: Remember that you are MOVING energy, and lots of it. When you take energy from one location (in the form of BTUs of heat), the temperature will decline from it's original temp. That is, a 52 deg. closed loop will not remain at 52 deg. The fluid temp will decline during the course of a heating season. Generally, a 50 deg. "ground" temperature will equate overall to a 30 deg. loop. You can't heat a garage, or even a slab for snowmelt at those temps. You HAVE to have the Geo unit that has the two heat exchangers and the compressor in-between. It's only through the change of phase of the refrig gas that you can go from low temp ("low grade") energy from the loop, to higher temp heat (whether for radiant or forced air) that is usable to indoor spaces.
Snow melt is even more dicey. I don't dispute tuffluckdriller's BTU #. But you need to know what you are aiming for. Would you intend to keep ice from accumulating on a cleared walkway or melt 10" of fresh snowfall? Would you try to maintain a steady temp above freezing or only turn it on when snow is falling? Actually, to design such a system and then afford the install it would require is pretty challenging.
For newbie tamboo: Check out ECONAR, a Minnesota manufacturer that makes heating optimized systems. When you look at different brands, make sure that you are getting equipment that is tailored for your climate. That is, some are better at providing cooling and others are better at providing heating. Not all GS heat pumps are created equal. Asking for an "apple to apples" quote and then going for the lowest $$ bid just doesn't happen.

Thanks, I actually spoke to a Econar rep last year and will get in contact with them again.  I met with a waterfurnace rep yesterday, and his proposal was 12-18K (he assured me it would be somewhere in the middle) with us doing all the digging.  We're going to have to put off geothermal until at least spring at this point, but it does give me time to really check out all my options...so any suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated...

I had a Water Furnace dealer too come talke with me. I'm looking at heating 2500 sf living area using a closed pond loop. Basically, I'm looking at a 4 1/2Ton Water Furnace Envision, 2 speed, variable speed, desuperheater with 60 gal tank, some type of backup coils that would keep house comfortable if something goes out. My whole existing system would be taken out (my backup plan is to go with a ventfree log LP log if case of an ice-storm, we have a small generator but not enought for such a system as the water furnace, we'd have to upgrade to a more expensive generator at some point. The closed loop will be sunk in our pond (which is at the most 40' from the basement (ease dig/short distance). I'm quoted somewhere around $18,000 (i was thinking, myself, $13,000 but what do I know). Does this sould reasonable as I see above for smaller got an over the phone $12,000. I want to make sure that, I too, do this right the first time. Thanks.

I am newer than a newbie and I read a lot about heating with geothermal, what about cooling, I live in the Florida Panhandle.  I have about an acre, a water well and a swimming pool, I also have an old, noisy heat pump and the unit in the interior of my house.  What could I expect if I replaced my old unit with a geothermal system, would I be able to change the location of the pump?

Geothermal works great for cooling. The new units are pretty quiet. The fan unit needs to inside of your house.

Hi everyone. I have waterfurnances in my house and love them. My system is a generation older than what is out there. The savings is truly in the air conditioning. I have a closed loop since I don't have a pond and I am in the northeast. I also believe your system becomes more efficiient based upon how you insulate your house. Close up those cracks and crevices. I have icynene in my walls but I was new construction.

The system is very quiet and no noisy condensors outside. Can't say enough about my system except if you live up north and it gets really cold, consider an alternative back-up system. I don't have this problem as much b/c of my insulation but when it gets around 10 degrees or lower the system can go into full electric which can be very expensive to run. I know people who have gas boiler back-up for this reason. Back-up in the geo is electric. I would be curious if anyone has a earth friendly back-up system other than the geo's electricity for areas that really get cold.

do you have natural gas in your area?

Geodean, Yes I have natural gas but was wondering if anyone else has a different more enviromentally back-up system.

tough to figure out what I'm trying to learn here but anyway... you can't talk icemelt and geothermal, well I guess you can but it costs more than youd want. To keep a garage floor heated, Iwould suggest to you that 2 units are required; one for your house heating and the second smaller unit to heat the floor.
As far as secondondary back-up for really cold weather from what I understand about going geo is that the auxilary heat is for emergencies only (enough to hold you over till the compressor can get fixed) the cost of running the electric heat will be brutal. So I guess your really coud temp is stage 2 on the compressor and the hope that the company you bought it from was honest enough to calculate your heat load correctly.