Good Luck.....keep us posted.
j

open loop (new well)

New well, huh? Have you considered how much your open loop pump is drawing?

Yeah, I asked the contractor this early on. He assured me that it was drawing enough.

By "draw", I was referring to the amount of electrical energy used by the pump.

What is the size of the open loop pump in hp or amps?

Oh,sorry. Pump says 11 A max; 1/2 - 1 hp.

I agree that 5.5 tons seems heavy for this house given the size, location and improvements.

At least it is spread across 2 units. In summer upstairs unit will see more load, winter will load the lower unit and unload the upper.

Izzat a 230V pump?

That has to run when either of your heating units runs.

Do you just have the single hot water tank or do you have a preheat tank and the 80 gal tank?

Just the single hot water tank. I'll check the volts.

You need two tanks or an un-fired, unenergized preheat tank feeding 1 or more tankless water heaters.

If DSH shares a conventionally fired tank it is rendered so ineffective that it may never pay for itself.

Posted By jadinpvd on 04 Feb 2011 09:45 PM
We only have a 2 stage system so looks like the Smart Heat Staging isn't an option. I'm not 100% sure but I don't think we have an outdoor temp sensor.

If your system is 2 stage (2 compressor stages) + electric aux heat, Smart Heat Staging should work since the aux heat would be considered the 3rd stage.  Not sure that you need it though, but it's there in case you want to use it.

The easiest way to tell if you have the outdoor temperature sensor is to look at the thermostat to see if the outdoor temperature is displayed.

It should be noted that ICFHybrid has no geothermal experience since he gives geothermal advise and opinions without disclosing this fact.  I don't think anyone here would argue that an open loop well pump draws more current than a closed loop circulation pump, but there are benefits to open loop as well, so don't worry about the pump. 

Yes, pump is 230 V.

Only other tank is the water systems tank with the pump.

Does is make sense for auxiliary heat to come on when going from just 70 to 71 degrees?

Sounds like there are several opportunities to improve this system

Aux should not activate upon a 1 deg setpoint change

Thanks geome. That's helpful. The contractor sent a tech out here last week and I asked about the Smart Heat Staging but was told that we only have a two stage system. The unit. however, says 2 stage.

No outside thermometer.

And thanks engineer. Didn't think the aux should be kicking on so easily. I"ll ask my installer about it on Monday. In the meantime, looks like we have Smart Heat Staging as an option.

You even have the ability with your thermostat to set temperature differentials for each of the 3 stages (explained in the Temperature Algorithm section). Feel free to keep asking questions. I would only select the options you need to avoid unnecessary use of aux.

If you manually change the thermostat setting by 1f, aux could engage (even though it may not be necessary.) Honeywell, (and it sounds like your) thermostats are programmed to treat manual changes as high priority (i.e. get to the new set point as quickly as possible.) You can avoid this by trying to program your set point changes as much as possible (and eliminate most of the manual changes) and by using the setup options we discussed.

It sounds like there is some unnecessary aux engagement going on.

Unfortunately, some installers don't optimize the thermostats for homeowners. This could be due to homeowners being different (i.e. what is comfortable to one may not be comfortable to another), going with default settings to minimize call backs (can't blame them for this), or the person setting up the thermostat is not familiar with the various options available.

Your thermostat has tons of flexibility. Don't be surprised if you end up being more of an expert with these settings than your particular installer by the time you are through.

Again geome and all, thanks for the help. I'll spend more time going through the options and see what I can come up with.

Yes, pump is 230 V.

Only other tank is the water systems tank with the pump.

Is there some reason you chose "open loop"?
Your open loop pump is probably drawing in the neighborhood of 7 or 8 amps. That's about 1.5kW It's the same pump that might be used for water wells. To supply an entire day's worth of water, that pump only has to run about 30 minutes, but in your situation, it has to run when either of the the heat pumps run. That might be as much as 800 or 1000kWh during peak months (like Jan). Add to that about 400 or 500 kWh from the hot water heater because it can't use much of the heat pump efficiency and you have a third or more of your electric usage right there.

Installer's recommendation. All estimates had same plan for open loop. House in on a relatively small lot so not much room.

so not much room.

But you've got a well? Do you use it for your drinking water as well, or just the geothermal system?
Where do you send the used water?