How to Install Geothermal Heat | This Old House
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- Опубліковано 13 тра 2021
- Plumbing and heating contractor, Richard Trethewey sees how the geothermal pipes are connected in the basement of the North Shore house.
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How to Install Geothermal Heat | This Old House
/ thisoldhouse - Навчання та стиль
In 1992, when I had my first house built, I wanted a geothermal heat pump but the up-front cost was too much, so I went with a conventional air source system; in 2009, when I moved from that first house to the house I live in now, I added a heat pump system to the existing oil heat, and I wanted geothermal but the up-front cost was high and the township didn’t want to issue permits for wells, so I went with a conventional air source system; finally, in 2021, I’m getting a geothermal heat pump system installed as part of a remodel and addition project at a summer cabin. The technology has improved and the costs have come down substantially in the 30 years since I first looked into it.
Sounds like you have serious commitment problems
What's the cost
@HahThatsWhatSheSaid I am awaiting the quote from the HVAC contractor. I’m in north east Pennsylvania, and good HVAC contractors that install geothermal are few and far between, and (like the rest of the construction industry) they are crazy busy right now, so I don’t even know when I will get the quote, let alone when installation will begin. But I will try to remember to come back here and comment again when I have more info.
@@craig221 see my other reply in this thread for more details, but short answer is I don’t yet have a quote on cost.
One millllliiion dollars…(dr evil laugh).
How to Install Geothermal Heat: Hire Geothermal Heat installation company.
Step 2, flush $25,000 down that well.
@@sonkevnauss4376 The ROI might be the next homeowner, not you.
Great source of renewable energy.
Man, I was gonna install geo thermal heading this weekend but I’m still lost
You can go country and hook up lines to your pond in backyard and turn on. Yeehaw!
That's quite the project for a weekend 😂
I don't want to be Mr. Critical but from experience I can see that the return air duct on the water to air unit is under sized. Also from the different units we installed over the years...just btw Water Furnace Heat Pumps are the ultimate heat pumps for next time!! Also I would recommend a non pressurized flow center over a pressurized one. Otherwise nice work!
95% explaining
5% installing
100% clickbait
100% informational
I wish they would change the title of this video and others similar to it to "How XYZ Works", or "How XYZ is installed". This doesn't teach people how to bore holes 300ft +, run geothermal conduit, install the air handlers etc...
So much I didn't understand. Wish I could've seen what goes underground. Aren't underground temps around 55°? Unless you're digging miles.
And why put half the upper floor system in the attic?
I wish they showed us the pipe fusion process.... the part they spent a bit talking about it
they just put that heater tool in there for 20 seconds to warm it up, then press them together and squeeze the fitting with another tool.
@@holden_tld There is nothing squeezed.
There are a lot of great videos that show the fusion process.
Powered by the ground…and a complex series of pumps and ductwork that if one piece goes wrong then you lose all heat and cooling.
seems to me that in the southern half of the country that there is zero need for antifreeze in geo thermal Can someone tell me why in an area with frost line that is perhaps 6 inches below grade one would need it
The title... "How to Install Geothermal Heat" I guess I'm ready
It all depends in the end of how deep your pockets are then the skies the limit. floors sure heated walls in bath to warm the towels yep snow free and ice free side walks not a issue drive way too of course.
Oh did poor @Kevin the sensitive troll block me from reading his "hilarious" comments??
Hahahahahahaha SNOWFLAKE!!!
I have a 100 year old home with a geothermal system and wish I had propane in the winters. It gets much too cold out where I am in the winter for the system to keep up properly with my old house. New construction? Go for it. If you want to retrofit an old house, think twice.
How old is the heat pump system?
Updating that may help.
Sealing the house is the obvious answer, external insulation will basically put a big blanket around the house. Using Rockwool will also provide a measure o fire protection from outside sources.
But just like everything else, how well you do it eventually comes down to cost and how much you are willing to spend.
There is also a pressurized sealing system that could be employed to seal older homes and stop heat loss. One price I seen was $1.50 pr sq foot, but the actual cost will depend on your location.
You need someone to come in and check energy consumption. Adding insulation and sealing some areas that are letting heat out will help. I assure you the heat pump can keep up.
I don't think anyone advertises it as the end all be all....you still need to supplement with heating above the temps of the ground
Whoever installed your system undersized it. That is the problem with a lot of " geothermal" contractors. They sized the system for the house for a.c. load and not heat load which cause the unit to be small and require supplemental heat in cold days.
A geothermal heat pump sized right for the building can heat 100 percent of the building on the coldest day without supplemental heat needed. Even if you are in the artic it will heat 100 percent if sized right.
@@scotttovey The system was installed 10 years ago by the previous owner. I have had to have another company come out to service it a couple of times because the installer went out of business.
I have put some money into the home to increase its efficiency (insulated siding, spray foamed rim joists, etc.) and it is getting better, but the system will never be as warm as a propane/natural gas system.
How many gallons of antifreeze does that take?
wife and I were looking to get geo but after looking at the $cost to put one in forget it it would be like buying another house.
Whiskey warms the heart and soul
Ive been looking into geothermal. From what I've read from multiple sources there's usually some pretty good government rebates and sometimes local county ones as well. Also financing is usually available and the finance rate is usually about the same as the money geothermal saves. So for the first few years its nearly breaking even with your current energy bill. Then after 5 or 6 years once the financing is paid off then you're keeping that money in your pocket. Solar panels take much longer to pay for themselves. About the time the pay for themselves is when the panels start needing replaced.
Also they use a lot of electricity so not as green as they seem.
@@robpbandit you wanna talk about a lot of electricity, my house is heated with electric baseboard heaters. $450 a month to heat 2200sqft with the thermostats set to 65. I'm planning on going geo just haven't got to it yet.
Is there geothermal cooling available in Florida ?
Definitely, but if you have a swimming pool you can get a system that will cool the house and heat the pool first, then once/if the pool is warm enough then it switches to the geothermal system. Basically free heating for your pool (at least, free during warm weather).
its always warm in Fl. except that week when its 40 at night.
likely will depend what is under your house....you need to dig pretty deep for it to work
@@Orholam5 true! I’m guessing that I will need two vertical loops around 300’ deep, and that won’t be cheap.
Uhhh seeing the vice grips instantly makes me think of a pro level job...
I also have many many pairs of vice grips. But I’m not a pro.
The cold ring for the pipe fusion looks like vice grips but functions like an overpriced wet rag.
How to install geothermal heat... pay someone to figure out and install it for you.
Poor Richard "can we fire it up? It's cold" "nope we need to pump this antifreeze in" *starts pumping" "Can we turn it on" "Nope will take two hours to completely flush the system, then 2 hours to flush the other system" "But then we can turn it on?" "nope we need an electrician to make his connections"
I feel for him though, I mean here's a video on a guy kind of fusing a pipe, then Richard talking about an air handler, and the tech guys making noise with a big diameter pipe and some antifreeze. Would have been nice if they had the whole thing up and running by the end at least.
What are the costs these days
20 -35k
NEVER do water source heat pumps this way....the up front cost is why Geo (water source...) has gotten passed on much too often.
If you have a water well, 99.9% of the work is already done...just plumb it in. Ask me how I know ( I have 2..)
Why are the ducts insulated? It’s a condition space.
Prevents air from leaking out and keeps the air temp more consistent for cooling and heating
Literally no idea what just happened.
Kevin kevin kevin, you sensitive troll. You can dish it out, but can't take it huh? Lol!!! Just a typical coward.
I wonder if this would’ve helped people in Texas during the whole freeze
Not if they didn't have electricity
Nope. Still runs on electric
I'll like to introduce a new concept to Souther n states. a generator. works great when the snow takes down wires
Great when it works and when it doesn’t break the wallet out. I have one and savings is not worth it, 10 years in and big mistake getting it.
A geothermal (ground source heat pump) system done right that is replacing a broken system will have a payback around 10-15years.
Antifreeze just keeps the water from freezing, it's actually worse for heat transfer than water. Should have used methanol instead of Glycol, pumps better and better heat transfer.
The two separate flow centers are a waste. A combined flow center would have saved money in purchase price and in pump energy. Not the installers fault unless they designed it too.
Wonder how much more electricity these heat pumps use compared to gas furnaces.
The push to electrify and decarbonize our heating systems is not addressing the additional pressure on electrical grids. Add on EVs, how will our grids keep up with supply? Nuclear? Coal? 😂
Don’t think solar and wind is going to cut it.
Stop calling a ground source based heat pump geothermal.
Ground based uses the the rather constant temperature at shallow levels.
Geothermal uses the heat radiating from the earth core. You have to go deep for geothermal. At least 400 m where geothermal is near to the surface, but most often several km.
My geothermal underwear doesn’t take two hours to kick in.
How to Install Geothermal Heat - watch 1% of the end of of the installation as Richard Trethewey tries and fails to grasp what is going on.
And pray to be leak free or the whole driveway is coming out
The wheel keeps getting reinvented!
Go union or go home
The return on your investment is never achieved in my opinion. I've removed a whole bunch of Geo's and put in regular heat pumps.
I think people go in an expect geo to be enough, but it's usually not. It's more of a way to be greener and only require electricity when it's super hot or cold
@@Orholam5 It requires electric any time the system is on my friend .....
GeoSHP has far lower operating costs (especially in cold climates) than ASHP and there are rebates... so anyone taking your advice, were ripped off....
@@nc3826 thank you, I will let them know
@@nc3826 It's funny the things people say on the keyboard, but would never say in a real conversation.
If you believe you can get 80 degrees from 55 degree underground, i've got some CMO's that pay 8%, even though the mortgages only pay 4%, thanks to the magic calculus. However, i believe you would not have to try very hard to cool, and Texas, say, this would work better, then say, New York.
If you understood refrigeration works. You would understand how you can heat a house to 80 degrees with 55 degree ground temperatures .
Enough with the geothermal heat, mini splits and heat pump water heaters. Becoming a broken record
Enough with it?
You may have to change the local building codes in order to get away from it.
Local communities imposing code restrictions is one way that industries force consumers to upgrade systems.
who hurt you Mr Libowski? nothing wrong with wanting to be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly
@@Orholam5 there's nothing wrong with it, the show is not entertaining when they remake the same thing again and again. Also I find your comment to be an act of white supremacy and as such I have notified the UA-cam overlords.
@@scotttovey I find your reply to be racist. Therefore you are wrong and any articulate defense as to why you are not racist is only because of your hatred of people of color.
Powered by the ground.....
Yeah, no.
Geothermal is great but let's be real, its powered by a natural gas fed power plant.
Or hydro electric, or coal, or nuclear. Just depends on where you live.
yes, for when it's too hot or too cold you still need conventional energy, but overall a geo house's carbon footprint is much lower
@@Orholam5 not sure you understand geothermal. You always need conventional energy. Geothermal is simply a heat pump with a very efficient hot/cold sink. They are great but claiming they are powered by the ground is misinformation.
@@Matt-dc8lp I do. The cost of electricity needed to run the heat exchangers and air blowers isn’t that high. The cost comes when you have to produce additional heat or cool the air more
@@Orholam5 you are correct for heat (resistance heater) but incorrect for cooling (no change, still a heat pump). I have a geothermal system and have only had the resistance heater come on for one period in the last 10 years.
Greta Thunberg effect: Install 'green' equipment at 500% $ increase