Jerkylips if you want to see a geothermal setup you are welcome to stop over at our place, we are near the University. We used Alternate Energy but had two other bids. Our biggest problem was integrating our indoor pool heating to the geothermal system. We also have solar PV, but not gird tied per say, thanks WPS ;) This is a great forum and I wish I had found it before we built, if I knew now back then...

And she could escape New Jersey at last...

Jerkylips: Do you have city water or well water? If it's well water is it deep or shallow?

I ask because there is one thing to keep in mind regarding hot water heaters (which I was not aware of BEFORE my installation) if you have a deep well.

After I got geo and my brand new hot water heater, my hot water started to smell like rotten eggs. I did a lot of research and found that it was a anaerobic reaction taking place in my tank because of the anodes in the new HWH reacting to a sulfur compound in my deep well. The smell was unbearable and I ended up having to remove the anodes from my HWH which of course voids any kind of warranty and most likely will significantly reduce the life of the tank.

When my tank does bite the bullet, I plan on investing in the fiberglass tanks that are available (which of course do not require anodes).

Just some more food for thought.

thanks much, I appreciate it!  we are on city water, so that shouldn't be an issue.  We are in a suburb, but it's basically a city lot - the reason for vertical vs. horizontal on the geo.

Years ago my sister lived in an area that had well water & had the exact same problem, except it was cold water too!  You couldn't even drink water out of the tap, it was nasty..

Ona, just wondering if you have found any fiberglass tanks that sound appealing to you?  I have and recommend Marathon tanks (a plastic, but not fiberglass tank), but your post made me question if there are other tanks that may be more reasonably priced that could also offer a LONG life.  If I'm not mistaken, many steel tanks have fiberglass in its construction, but if I understand you correctly you are talking about a non steel tank?

jerkylips ~ I'm lucky that it was only my hot water and as soon as the anodes came out (last February) the smell went away and never came back.

geome ~ Yes, I was talking about a non steel tank (anything that does not require an anode to prevent corrosion). The only ones I came across were the Marathon. I actually didn't know they were plastic. I know that they are about 4 times more expensive, but given my situation, I will make that investment when the time comes.

I second the Marathon recommendation, bearing in mind the much higher price.

Yep, no anode in the Marathon. I don't know why someone doesn't make a fiberglass tank with no steel (maybe someone does). Our water softener uses a fiberglass tank for the media that looks like a scuba diving tank (but no heating element in there). For very harsh water conditions, Marathon has titanium heating elements for sale.

thanks for the offer, we may take you up on that!  we're probably not starting til spring so I think we have some time.

Your comment about wishing you had found this forum earlier brings up a question.  Now that you have your systems installed, is there anything you would have done differently or wished you knew at the time, now that you have been living with it for a while?

2.5 years after replacing conventional AC / gas furnace with GSHP, my 'would have done differently' or 'wish I knew' list includes:

1. Wish I had put in flex-canvas like connections in supply and return ducts (for minimization of noise).

2. Wish I had HDPE fused connections on my water pumps instead of brass barbed w/ radiator clamps connections.

3. Wish I had checked to make sure my flex ducts were no longer than 6 feet at the end.

4. Wish I had checked that all flex duct connections were tight to the register boots.

5. Wish I had made sure all return air registers and and duct sizes were large enough.

6. Wish my register boots were sealed to the ceiling drywall.

7. Wish I had installed flow meters into my loop piping.

8. Wish I had water leak detection pans under pumps and fittings (my installation is in an attic).

9. Wish my loop pipes external to the ground (primarily in attic) were insulated.

10. Wish my water flow wasn't set so high.

11. Wish my pumping power was not so high (i.e., wish for more efficient pumps).

12. Wish I had included a post installation 'duct blaster test' (not sure of correct words) to verify duct work was sealed properly.


Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Bill

Good post-op commentary - let me add a few tweaks to that list:

1) Flexible boot connections between unit and ductwork help prevent vibration being transmitted between unit and metal ductwork. I don't believe they'll make much much difference with respect to compressor or blower noise.

3) Connections to registers are called "runouts" Capping flex duct length to 6' is a laudable goal but may not be feasible in many circumstances without great additional expense. More important is to pay attention to the Manual D airflow requirements to each room and size the flex accounting for its increased friction, stretch it tight, hang it properly, prevent it being bent or crushed.

5) Pay attention to Manual D guidelines limiting air velocities in supplies and returns - different limits apply. Also pay attention to subtleties such as loss of free area across a return grill owing to its slats - if slats cover half the face, velocity doubles to move the same CFM.

6) Duct leakproofing and insulation - tough details to police in the field especially if installation is physically tight, effectively go away if all the ductwork is within the conditioned envelope rather than in a vented attic that gets hot in summer and cold in winter. Total manual J load drops significantly if this is done, potentially saving 1/2 to 1 ton in system size and loopfield. Pressures within house are easier to balance and pressure imbalance induced infiltration drops as well.

7) Be careful with flow meters. Some impose significant flow restriction, reducing water flow and increasing pump power. Pumps are already quite inefficient <50%, don't want to make that problem worse. It is possible to infer flow from delta T across water and air sides if airflow is known. Modern units with ECM blowers allow the CFM setpoint to serve as approximate airflow if  static pressure is within limits

7a) Another option would be to permanently install pressure indicators at Pete's Ports. The unit heat exchanger serves as the restriction for calculating flow, and if it rises along with delta T and compressor amps, one can infer scaling