Geothermal heating & cooling - Calgary

[michika]

Is anyone in the Calgary area doing this, or thinking of doing this? (http://www.canren.gc.ca/prod_serv/in...d=150&PgId=769 ) I'm considering it for our new house, and wanted some first hand opinions or information about experiences.

I'm looking at it for a few reasons, 1) I want to put in a very large tank into my house, 2) I hear it can reduce the cost of your utilities, 3) eco-friendly is always nice.

I suppose I want to know if it really is cost-efficient, or if the time to recoup your initial investment is really far off. I also want to know how people have faired with it in Calgary and its surrounding areas.

[Phanman]

There is a few ppl over at RC that are doing it with titanium tubing and an auger. Looks promising, check it out in the DIY section.

[mark]

I'm in a subdivision but still gave geothermal a look when first planning. Was a few years ago but then seemed yes, energy costs are cheaper than conventional heating/cooling but I figured probably wouldn't be seeing the saving for about 15 years or more due to the up-front costs for boring and equipment.

Was around the same time I figured just go the HE furnace started looking into the geo-loop for the tank cooling. As the lot wasn't graded had lots of time to plan. Ran the tank the first summer and easily kept temperature in range just with muffins fans and now since central air see no reason for burying pipe in the backyard.

My comments for geo-loop on the tank are for a 145g with 2x250W lights. I could see it being a use for cooling a larger tank specially in the winter to prevent humidity or moisture problems, though a cheap bathroom fan in the fish room or a HRV unit would do lot's as well.

[Ephraim]

My parents out in Saskatchewan went with geothermal years ago when they built a new house. I beleive it was about 15 years ago. It has long paid for itself, especially in a setting where you have to have the gas delivered. It's worked very well for them over the years and they have only had to fire the electric backup element once when it was like -40 or something stupid cold.

It's really nice not being dependant on gas prices. I think the initial cost is well warrented, additional costs are minimal electric for running pumps etc.

[michika]

So I guess what I am hearing, and please step in a correct me if I'm off, is that it is worth it for a much larger tank, e.g. 1500-2000g total volume. However if you are doing it just for your house it will take a long time to recoupe the costs of having it installed.

So in regards to the cost and recouping it, is it just the initial setup and material that makes the cost so hight?

I'm really looking forwards to trying to reduce my electric and gas consumption for when I get this new system up and running. I'm looking at solar pannels right now, but this seemed to be the most beneficial overall.

[mark]

I was getting ballpark quotes ranging 15-20K for my house. Since in the city I would need to go vertical so about 5K of the quotes was for the bore, that portion might be lower with horizontal.

A geo-loop for a large tank might be an idea worth considering and is basically a DIY.

Solar panels are a good idea if your thinking water heating not electricity. Using panels to pre-heat water for radiant floor heating or hot water tanks makes sense.

[Zylumn]

We are renovating a 28 year old house and wanted to go eco friendly. Through my extensive studies I found it would take 8 to 10 years to pay for itself using geothermal or solar/wind and at that time it would most likely need to be replaced. Our plan now is to ensure we are capable to go this route in the future when its 90% cheaper and the Govt. is willing to jump in with some major contribution, instead of a few hundred $ here and there. Let us know what you decide and pics for the inquiring mind.
Kevin