TechGromit

I found the same info also but through Ebay. Just go to Ebay and search for geothermal heat pumps. You will find Southeastern Geothermal and the various water source heat pumps they sell. I don't know anything about them, but it does exist.

No GSHP units?  http://www.southeasterngeothermal.com/index-3.html  Their site lists both Climate Master and HydroHeat.

Ed

It sounds like a difficult and time consuming duct job. Retrofit duct systems are very labor intensive, and geo companies are often top heavy with more experienced technicians. One way to save might be to contract the duct system seperately, there is a good chance that your geo installers would appreciate it and that it would be reflected in your price.
Also ask when their slow season is.Because of the laborious nature of your duct system in an otherwise busy season, your job is not very attractive to a contractor.
I suspect the duct work and the vibe you put out about pricing is responsible for your lack of return phone calls.
As far as pay back, I agree with our other friends, 10K of the expense is for air conditioning which you presumably would like to have. Between a/c and getting rid of fuel oil you also add at least 10% to the value of the home...and you re-coup the investment in 12 years, not bad!
Beware of carpet baggers and free lunches, your experience will be greatly diminished if your installer is not also available for repairs when the time comes. You also may find repairs are more expensive and take longer if you end up with a product that no local dealer carries.
Joe

Joe

Thanks for the input, but I do have a quick question about ductwork. My situation is that I have a single level ranch house, "L" shaped, and 2700 sq. ft.. There is a full unfinished basement providing complete access to all the rooms above. I admit, I really don't know a lot about duct work, but it would seem relatively straightforward to run main trunks(?) and lines off it to each room. There is no second floor to get to and they can have as much space as they need in the basement. Am I wrong? What are the difficulties I am not aware of? I would appreciate some feedback as I would really like to get more than the one quote I have received so far.

I am going to a homeowners workshop at a company called Water Energy Distributors in NH next weekend, and I am hoping to get some results from that. Thanks.

You are in a heating dominated climate so floor registers should be fine. Others will be green with envy at what should be a fairly simple installation as ductwork goes. Make sure a manual D calculation gets done to determine each room's air requirement, and that registers are properly placed within each room to "attack the load" as well as placed so that furnishings don't wind up atop the grills

We are waiting for a proposal from eathlinked and already have proposals from water furnace and megatek to replace oil fired base board hydronic w/ GSHP forced air. I explained to all of them that I would like to what I could myself to save money, but diddint want to get in thier way. All 3 were willing to deduct for me removing the old system (a pick up load of copper pipe = $$$ at the scrap yard) , provide electrical service, and as far as ductwork they would plan out the system, build the plenum and start the main trunks, then instruct me and provide materials to finish it. (saving around $5000.00 over the turn-key price). holes would be cut in the floors, walls, and in some rooms the cieling. so it sounds like I need to figure in some drywall and paint.

Speaking of DIY, you can do your very own Manual J and D whole house and room load calcs with a $50 temporary license of Don Sleeth's HVAC calc, available online. It'll let you check up on what the pros come up with as well as learn effects of adding better insulation, windows or doors.

Also a small Load Calculation for free at

http://www.toww.net/products.htm

But no Man "D"

Engineer, thanks for my new motto, " Attack the load"

Stop! Thief!

Attacking the load is not a new concept - been around for 100+ years. Where do you find steam radiators? beneath leaky wooden double hung single pane windows. Where are baseboard radiators? On the floor along exterior walls.

Hacks in the duct business either never learned or forgot this elemental concept - I'm debugging a million dollar beachfront house HVAC system for my builder. One complaint is a narrow top floor hallway off an open stairwell stays warm . Hall has 6 1x3 west facing windows with zero shading or overhang. The one good register in that space dumps 150 or so CFM right down the stairwell. For <$20 a different grill will throw to the sides, washing the windowed wall with cool air and keeping that 150 CFM in the 3rd floor zone rather than dumping it into the working-just-fine 2nd floor zone via the stairwell.

Register placement is non-trivial: One needs to:

1) supply the room's required air, meeting the higher of heating or cooling loads
2) mix the supply air with the room's air so as to neither allow dead spots nor create unpleasant drafts
3) Attack the load - gently wash walls, floor or ceiling as applicable with supply air to head off loads

Hey DK,

I met with Lawrence Air Systems and it was the best meeting out of the five contractors I've met with. He knew what he was talking about when it came to drilling, permitting, ducting, sizing and installation. He has local referrals that he's going to share with me. I was very impressed with the first meeting and if your doing a retro fit this guy has the products to get it done because when the sheet metal doesn't work he has 18 years experience installing SpacePak. Also, none of the other installers mentioned they could use the blower on my existing furnaces. One guy said I would have to use their approved air handler for the Earthlinked system. All the furnaces are relatively new and would serve as backup or supplemental heat.  That should save a lot of $ in labor and materials.

This guy had a humble wisdom about him. He took a detailed look at the job and came to me with the same ideas I already had in mind and added some new perspective I hadn't considered. It was good Synergy and I look forward to seeing if the quote is in line with my budget... I hope he doesn't break my heart.

Hi Jobbz

Sounds good, let me know what happens. I wish I could get him out to my place to get a quote. I live in Scituate, in northwest RI and maybe that's the problem. I am too far out for people to come. This is RI after all, and a 45 minute drive is just too much for a lot of locals.

A 45 minute drive originating in RI generally ends in another state, anyway.