That's right. You need to have a contractor willing to get the loads done right, and then apply them. If he's just going to be a driller, let him be a driller. Perhaps you should make sure the HVAC guy does an accurate load calc for you. Just make sure the system is sized correctly. You should tell this guy's sales rep of his response.

I appreciate the feedback, Tuff guy. I have an HVAC guy and he said he would do the calcs for me to make sure everthing is sized right and he might do the ducts for me as well.

Today, I met with the second contractor from DraginGeothermal.com but their equipment is too big to get onto my property. They drill standing column wells for geothermal and the cost is about $20k for the outside work. I prefer the idea of the standing column but I'm afraid the only equipment that can do would require me to tear down a 90 year old stone wall... not happin'n on my watch. If I can only get the smaller bore hole machines on my property am I limited to ONLY Earthlinked DX? Are there any other brands using direct exchange?

Even if DX is not the only option there is a serious concern that cropped up in our conversation, the refrigerant. I thought I read somewhere that it was some kind of environmentally friendly stuff but nothing on their website addressed the issue. I went back to the FAQ on the web page and there was no real argument against the issue. My wife says we bought our last house, so what are we going to do in 50 years when the loop needs to be replaced or it fails. Is my land going to be considered a toxic clean-up zone or brown field? The guy made it sound a little less "green."

EarthLinked currently uses either R-22 or R-407c. R-22 is on the phase-out list, but there is starting to be a stronger movement to get it removed from that list. It has no CHFC's like the other refrigerants on the list. Point being, it's non-ozone problem anyway. So, it wouldn't be a 'cleanup zone'.

Also, if R-22, or ANY refrigerant, leaks in the ground, it IMMEDIATELY turns in to a gas, and evaporates to the atmosphere. It DOESN"T mix with the earth or ground water. So there is NO contamination from it. Sure, there may be a little bit of oil, but it is very minimal amount. Trust me, the drilling process will contaminate the ground water more so than any little bit of oil from a compressor would. And the ground water will easily recover from this when drilling is done correctly.

R-22 is one of the most efficient refrigerants. Currently there are companies producing drop-in replacements for R-22 for any kind of R-22 system. These companies guarantee the system when replacing R-22 with their new refrigerants. These are not in concept, but are ALREADY available to be used.

Bottom line is that there will be an easy alternative to R-22 refrigerant available, IF the R-22 happens to leak out.

As far as other companies, the reason I always say EarthLinked DX, instead of DX, is that there are other DX companies, and they have different specs. I don't know their specs that well, and therefore can't talk for them. Nordic makes one, Earth-Source Energy has one. No others are as proven and reliable as EarthLinked. The biggest difference is the way EarthLinked controls the refrigerant. When doing DX, you're dealing with a large amount of refrigerant compared to any other refrigeration system. EarthLinked's controls are really the heart of why their system works so well. Anyway...

Good explanation, Tuff. I wish that was posted online somewhere.

If I'm reading correctly the system can be ordered with R407c. I'll have to look up the benefit of that.

Thanks,
jobbz

The only benefit of R-407c is that it is not on the list to be phased out. It's more expensive than R-22, and is not as efficient. But it's the "in-place" "green" alternative with the EarthLinked system.

Hey there Tuff guy!

I spoke to Mel today and he referred me to http://www.lawrenceairsystems.com and I appreciate your reference to him.  On a seperate note, do you know the competitive advantages of Earlinked over Earthsource or any other DX system?  In marketing terms, how do you differenciate yourself?

Dkiernan,
This guy has about 40 installs and references in my area. They outsource the drilling but do just about everything else. They do their own sheet metal and even carry SpacePak which would make this place a one-stop-shop for a retrofit. I feel much better about DX after talking to this guy over the phone and look forward to having him over for an evaluation.

My only concern is they are backed-up for two months and I'm afraid he'll price me out of the project. I'm just glad to hear there's someone that knows what they're doing around hear. We were talking about the square footage and I said it would probably be a 6 ton. He put the brakes on that kind of talk until he could do the Manual J, D and S calculations... I think I'm in love. hehehe

Jobbz

The installer you mentioned at Lawrence Air Systems was one of the first people I spoke with when trying to find out about geo. I also thought he sounded very reasonable on the phone. He told me on the phone that he thought a system for my house would be 40-50K. At the time I thought that was really high, but since then several others mentioned 40K. I called him back to come out to my place and give me an actual estimate after looking at the job and he never returned my calls. Let me know how it works out for you and maybe I will try again to get him over here.

As I mentioned before, I am going to a homeowners workshop at a Climatemaster distributor in southern NH on 7/26. I will let you know how that goes.

I spoke the a guy named Brian and he was on the road during the conversation. He asked that I send him an email and follow-up in a few days if I didn't hear back since he's busy and would likely forget. He explained that he usually banks the estimates to do all in string and plan out the jobs and would not be doing it for another 3 weeks or so. I asked about the price hike and he said it's going to be 10% on orders place after August 1st. He said he would make time over the next week to help keep my cost down if he could. I'm still waiting to set the appointment.

I had a Climatemaster dealer come out today, it was the guy who did the LEEDS house on Bonnet Shores in Narragansett, they had a few articles in the ProJo about the project. Anyway, the short story is that my property is inaccessible to the rig needed for a standing column well. I'm restricted to DX as the only viable option.

Was the Climatemaster guy Tom, from Valley Heating and Cooling? He came out to my place and I liked him and he seemed to know what he was talking about. He didn't have any literature left on the systems, but promised to send me a package with the info and a quote to install the system. A month and 3 phone calls later and I never received anything. What is up with these guys? I guess they must be overwhelmed with requests and work as they seem generally to be pretty unresponsive after the initial contact.

new to this forum....

I have been experiencing the same problems with lack of responses.  I read where geothermal is really taking off so it is no wonder responses are slow.  a golfing buddy of mine is taking a seminar next week on geothermal installation.  He already has 4 installations on the docket. This weekend, i am visiting a friend who also wants to have a system installed.  I'll keep everyone posted on our progress.

Welcome Go Liath,

What state are you in? After listening to the Tuff guy on the board it was helpful to contact the regional sales rep.

I live in wakefield RI. 

Hello everyone. I am the owner of the drilling company that provides drilling services for geothermal systems in RI. We have been in business ourselves for more than two years drilling and blasting. We met Brian Lawrence while attending a "green" show at URI. Since then we have drilled 5 seperate systems for his company. We also filmed a show with Steve Thomas' Renovation Nation, to air in the spring of 2009, Very exciting! I am updating our website to show some pictures of our projects and came across this forum. If you would like to see some of the drilling pics go to www.accuratedrillingandblasting.com