Hi Everybody,

I have been reading a lot of negative forums about Earthlinked Systems. Here are some
questions that should be answered when buying a Geothermal system.

1) Show me a Elite Manual J
2) Planning details, Duct sizes, What kind of Loops
3) Find the right HVAC Contractor
4) Customer should be involved with his HVAC contractor at all times

A rough rule of thumb (Loose Talk) for a 3,000 sq ft house is 400 sq ft per ton of Geothermal.
So a basic calculation is 4 x 3 = 12, So that would mean the house would need 12 tons, But remember you will need a Elite Manual J Done.


So once the HVAC does a Manual J the heat load will be more detailed to what size you will
need to heat and cool your house. The manual J will tell you what size duct they want, the important thing about ducts is what CFM'S do you need for the house, DO NOT UNDER SIZE THEM!!!!!

I fixed a lot of problems that Contractors didn't know what they were doing. I fixed a ranch
home that is 3,000 sq ft and has a two car garage detached. The house has a 5 ton and 3 ton
and a 2 ton on garage and his electric bill is running around 270.00 a month with 3 people living
in the house.

The customer use to have loops that were drilled and install by a contractor that didn't have any clue. I replaced the whole systems and put in H5 pits, Now the customer is very happy.

So the Earthlinked systems are not bad most of it is that customer has a bad contractor!!!!!!

Best Regards    

????

Hi and welcome,
As a rule of thumb here, we do not use thumbs as they usually yield poor results unless it is just loose talk, which your post does not indicate.

It would or course depend on how well insulated your house is, but 12 tons sounds awful high to me.  I have 3,000 sq. Ft. (heated space) house in New Jersey and have a 4 ton (45,000 Btu) open loop geothermal system in the basement to the 1st floor and a 3 ton ASHP for the second floor, that's 7 tons total.  I have another 2,500+ sq ft of unheated space (Garage, Basement, Attic).  Actually I thought DX system were more efficent, I would expect the system to be smaller, based on the increased efficency of the system.

The Garage?  Having Geothermal for the garage is a poor choice of heat, unless your refering to some finished space ABOVE the garage.  When you open the garage door to pull your car in, you would lose a lot of your heat out the door, recovery would take a while everytime you pulled your car in and out, I question weather it's saving anything at all (as opposed to a alternative heating method). I guess you could have one of those garages so full of crap, that pulling in a automoblie is out of the question, but I'm a rebel, I actually use my garage for two cars.

That's why I said (Loose Talk) a rule of thumb is approximately 12 ton's. Once the Manual J
is done it will give the total BTU's for the house, You have to take everything in to consideration about how well the house is insulated.

Comfort Tech 

The Garage that is heated by the Geothermal is a detached garage that is used as a work shop that is closed in, Just in case that he would want to park extra cars in it.

The garage that is attached to the house is not heated and it is a 3 car garaged. So it would not be a good choice to heat a garage that is attached to a house.

Comfort Tech

[[[[ A rough rule of thumb (Loose Talk) for a 3,000 sq ft house is 400 sq ft per ton of Geothermal.
So a basic calculation is 4 x 3 = 12, So that would mean the house would need 12 tons, ]But remember you will need a Elite Manual J Done. ]]]] ........................................................ Not sure about your calculations 3000/400= 7.5 tons and Again,like you said, rule of the thumbs never work for Geo

Hi,

         With all due respect, my contractor Brian Garno(mentioned on my thread) has been installing Earthliknked systems for years and is/was their largest distributor in Michigan.  So, he is not the problem.  Brian himself says that all his woes with these systems began in systems installed June 2008 and later.  All the systems installed prior are just fine.  So, my logical deduction is something has changed in the units themselves-cheap/poor components leading to dismal performance .  Apparently the guts of the system(the compressor) is different in the newer ones.  To add to this , the dismal customer service offered by the manufacturer.  My thread's intention is not to gripe about the systems.  It is intended to encourage feedback and input so my systems may be fixed or replaced.  It is also intended to help other customers who are thinking of putting these systems in making their decision while comparing these with others on the market .

400 sq ft / ton seems like A LOT. Where are you located? What kind of temperature extremes are you having to deal with?

Here where I live in Arkansas, the "rule of thumb" is 600-700 sq ft per ton of heating/cooling. For a 3000 sq ft home, that's 4 to 5 tons of heating/cooling. A typical well insulated wood framed 2000 sq ft ranch home down here would have a 3 ton heat pump.

I guess with the all rules of thumbs, we have to consider where the project is. Heating or Cooling dominated climate. Something working and sized in Texas may not work in Montana, if sized by rule of thumb. I have one client with a 4500 sq ft ICF house with a 5 ton Earthlinked DX unit(that's 900 sq.ft./ton)

I thought it was a Manual D to size ductwork? What makes a Manual J an "Elite" Manual J?

I heat my garage with (1000sq.ft.) with a separate geo unit and I'm very happy with it. I don't leave the door (insulated) open long and the temp. doesn't drop much pulling the car (truck) in and out. My problem is mopping up the water. I purposely didn't slope or put in a drain but it's a five minute job a couple of times a year as opposed to fighting slopes and drains as I roll around cars and tool chests. I'm sitting in it now at 72 while it sleets outside. BTW, I would have to do some serious insulating if it took that much to heat and cool my 2800 ft. in North Arkansas. I have 3 1/2 tons, total and last week, when it was in the low teens and single digits was the second time in 15 yrs. that I used the heat strips.

The Elite is a RHVAC program that meets the ACCA Manual J heat load calculation and it will
tell you what size ducts you need per rooms.

The Manual D is a duct sizing program that works in the Manual J so you can lay out a whole
duct system in a house.

Comfort Tech

Elite appears to be a software company that has manual j and manual d software.

Elite Software is a program that HVAC contractors buy, Which you can add a Manual D, Drawing Board, Proposal Maker and a Audit to it plus a lot more.

The program can get expense but in the long run I won't have problems when I size for
a Geothermal.

Comfort Tech

I have Elitesoft but there are other competent load calc programs out there.

That seems an unreasonable limitation.

Comforttech, welcome.
How long have you been installing geo in general and Earthlinked in particular?
Joe