Hello,

I have homestead property with a log house in Alger County Michigan and just found your wonderful site today. I am learning fast about the use of geothermal.  It appears from your posted reference info I may have an ideal source of geothermal heat in the form of two artesian spring flows I have already boxed in and piped to a concrete cistern where I currently have a normal 220v 3/4hp submersible pump installed and piped to cold water pressure tank and an electrical hot water heater . The artesian flow runs all year round at 22-30gpm and varies from 42-48 degrees F seasonally, normally causing a snowmelt line over the lines all winter in spite of winter temps of occasionally 30 below zero. Currently the constant flows exits the well box and flows thru an unused former fish hatchery building, before being returned to a small surface stream. The artesians produce water of absolute clarity (bedrock is limestone based) with a neutral PH and no detectable iron. My water/pump cistern is partially buried and located less than 20ft from the house and is at footing level with the building. The artesian flow,  wellbox, and underground lines have never frozen up yet. The only foreseen problem is no overburden depth to place supply lines to the house below frost line as the limestone bedrock  is only 2 ft below surface most places.  My heating loads for 1&1/2 story, 1500 sq ft would always be the prime "need" in winter, and hot water in summer. I seldom need summer cooling due to the forest canopy on my site.  Since we primarily use wood heat but work away from home much of the time we are looking at alternate (or primary) heating options to propane or electric backup.

 Would this situation be possible for open-loop geothermal technology, and would the cost savings for geothermal offset the electrical use for the constant pumping it seems would be necessary in the winter months. I would have to decide on installed baseboard hot water or hot air ductwork  to make any system work.

Thanks for any comments in advance!

Jeff Davis

Hi Jeff,

Welcome to the forums. Your situation is ideal for a geothermal system.

With a constant supply of artesian water the biggest cost of a geo system has been eliminated.

Geo is not a good match for baseboard heat due to the limits of hot water. 110 - 120° is as hot as you can get. So I would look at a forced air system.

I don't think you will need to worry too much about the supply lines freezing since water will be running through them most of the time during the coldest parts of the winter.

The most you would need to do is insulate the supply lines.

Let us know how your project progresses.

Good Luck

Hi Jeff,

 

It sounds like you have a very nice homestead location.  Wow! 22-30 gpm artesian is great! 

 

As far as your comment “I have already boxed in and piped”, how exactly have you boxed them in?  Is this something that you could drive a point into to take advantage of the pressure it might supply?  If there is enough pressure and supply you might not even need a water pump for the geo system.  The two foot to bed rock might not be an issue if you can tap into the spring and run it as low as you can below grade in the dirt to your home with pex inside a four inch diameter black poly drainage pipe filled with foam insulation.  It would also be worth investigating how many inches of pressure the artesian can supply. 

 

You might want to check with your local electric company to see if they offer any discounts for geothermal electric use.  DTE does down here in the southern part of Michigan.  In most cases, you get about four units of heat for every unit of electricity used.  In my opinion it would be worth your time to checkout geothermal.

 

Regards,

Thanks Eric D & Dewayne Dean for the fast response. I will definitely be investigating the various air-duct geothermal systems for installation on my site.

Jeff Davis