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The installers finished our geothermal installations today.
This project started months ago, with sprayfoaming of the upstairs attic space.
I have taken photos from day one, and chronicled the processes as best I could in a Photoblog.

I did this because I really couldn't find anything else quite like it, when I was doing my research, prior to committing to this project.
Hopefully, others will find it educational and useful.

Most photos have descriptions explaining what's going on.

http://imgur.com/a/ChnFT#0

tucker wrote:The installers finished our geothermal installations today.
This project started months ago, with sprayfoaming of the upstairs attic space.
I have taken photos from day one, and chronicled the processes as best I could in a Photoblog.

I did this because I really couldn't find anything else quite like it, when I was doing my research, prior to committing to this project.
Hopefully, others will find it educational and useful.

Most photos have descriptions explaining what's going on.

http://imgur.com/a/ChnFT#0

Holy shit Tucker, that's pretty cool. Will be interesting to see what your monthly bill goes to. What did you pay for installation of the system?

I don't have the final bill yet. It was quoted at $28,500 before the spray foam and water heaters were added.
The spray foam was $4,000, and I expect the water heaters to add another $1,200 - $1,500 to the final cost.
It's a lot upfront, but we had most of it in reserves and procured and low interest loan to cover the balance.
We'll pay the loan after tax time.
Since there's a 30 percent tax credit on the total installation, it made more sense to do it all now.

Damn Tucker! Nice system. I'd be curious about your savings.

We're already seeing energy usages down about 50-60%. My wife works for our electric company, and we have an e-meter that polls three times a day. Got an app on her tablet that can check it anytime.
We've actually been running for two weeks, but they just came back and did the water heaters today.

tucker wrote:I don't have the final bill yet. It was quoted at $28,500 before the spray foam and water heaters were added.
The spray foam was $4,000, and I expect the water heaters to add another $1,200 - $1,500 to the final cost.
It's a lot upfront, but we had most of it in reserves and procured and low interest loan to cover the balance.
We'll pay the loan after tax time.
Since there's a 30 percent tax credit on the total installation, it made more sense to do it all now.

must of had that same pilot as the plane that crashed, Ho Li Fuk. hope it pays off in the long run man!

tucker wrote:I don't have the final bill yet. It was quoted at $28,500 before the spray foam and water heaters were added.
The spray foam was $4,000, and I expect the water heaters to add another $1,200 - $1,500 to the final cost.
It's a lot upfront, but we had most of it in reserves and procured and low interest loan to cover the balance.
We'll pay the loan after tax time.
Since there's a 30 percent tax credit on the total installation, it made more sense to do it all now.

Roger, it will pay for itself in so many years. I am guessing the pond cools your house in summer but where does the heat come from in the winter?

I cover it in the write-ups, but a higher end traditional system was going to be about $19,000 for our 2860 sq ft home.
Once we get the tax credits applied, we'll be at about $24,000 on the geothermal.
The difference should be recovered quickly with monthly savings.

I'm telling you, if you're building a house, spend the money upfront on spray foam and never look back.
I'll try to save back up and get the crawlspace done next year.
Not only does it insulated better, but it seals out bugs and dirty air.

In winter, my heat pumps will be operating in 50-60 degree ambient, as opposed to 20-30 degree outside air.
A traditional heat pump begins to lose ground at 35 degree outside air. Since the geothermal will be pulling much warmer temps from the pond, the system will not have to labor as hard to extract heat from it.

tucker wrote:I cover it in the write-ups, but a higher end traditional system was going to be about $19,000 for our 2860 sq ft home.
Once we get the tax credits applied, we'll be at about $24,000 on the geothermal.
The difference should be recovered quickly with monthly savings.

I'm telling you, if you're building a house, spend the money upfront on spray foam and never look back.
I'll try to save back up and get the crawlspace done next year.
Not only does it insulated better, but it seals out bugs and dirty air.

holy fuck man. as a former contractor i feel i could do it for a lot less, maybe.

I always wanted to sink a pump system into the thermal ponds they have here in AK. I have a creek that runs through my property and I hear electricity dollars rolling by. I need to install a watermill or something.

(MT)Montanafowler wrote:
holy **** man. as a former contractor i feel i could do it for a lot less, maybe.

You could save a ton by doing the digging yourself, but it's a lot of digging.
You must have either a vertical well, pond loops, or ground loops.
My system was also quoted for ground loops. It was to require 900 feet of trenches at 8 feet deep and 5 feet wide.
A backhoe or trackhoe are going to take a while, and leave your yard torn up.

Ground loops are slightly less efficient, because the transfer from the pipe is not as good as it is in water.

Besides, I didn't want to tear up all of this.

Did you or the contractor estimate an amount of time for ROI?

3legged_lab wrote:Did you or the contractor estimate an amount of time for ROI?

We both did. I figured 7-10 years. He said 5-7 years.

Tucker are you in the mob or just a successful drug dealer?:lol:

Congratulation on completing your project Tucker. Your place looks great! I wouldn't have torn that up either.

tucker wrote:

3legged_lab wrote:Did you or the contractor estimate an amount of time for ROI?

We both did. I figured 7-10 years. He said 5-7 years.

I would lean more towards your figures but I also have little to no geo experience. Either way its a good time frame, it looks like you've got a great system.

Bootlipkiller wrote:Tucker are you in the mob or just a successful drug dealer?:lol:

Witness relocation program.

Feelin' Fowl wrote:Congratulation on completing your project Tucker. Your place looks great! I wouldn't have torn that up either.

I would have, lawns suck without peasants

Tiler_J wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:Tucker are you in the mob or just a successful drug dealer?:lol:

Witness relocation program.

Shit! Hope I didn't blow his cover.

AKPirate wrote:

Feelin' Fowl wrote:Congratulation on completing your project Tucker. Your place looks great! I wouldn't have torn that up either.

I would have, lawns suck without peasants

A black kid mows my lawn. I didn't want to look racist so I over pay him. He's a nice kid.

Bootlipkiller wrote:

Tiler_J wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:Tucker are you in the mob or just a successful drug dealer?:lol:

Witness relocation program.

Shit! Hope I didn't blow his cover.

If he ends up dead, I am totally blaming you!

Bootlipkiller wrote:

AKPirate wrote:

Feelin' Fowl wrote:Congratulation on completing your project Tucker. Your place looks great! I wouldn't have torn that up either.

I would have, lawns suck without peasants

A black kid mows my lawn. I didn't want to look racist so I over pay him. He's a nice kid.

Fuckin racist!

AKPirate wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:

AKPirate wrote:

Feelin' Fowl wrote:Congratulation on completing your project Tucker. Your place looks great! I wouldn't have torn that up either.

I would have, lawns suck without peasants

A black kid mows my lawn. I didn't want to look racist so I over pay him. He's a nice kid.

Fuckin racist!

I'm only half racist, he's half white!

Tiler_J wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:

Tiler_J wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:Tucker are you in the mob or just a successful drug dealer?:lol:

Witness relocation program.

Shit! Hope I didn't blow his cover.

If he ends up dead, I am totally blaming you!

It wouldn't be the first time I've been blamed for something dying.

Bootlipkiller wrote:

AKPirate wrote:

Bootlipkiller wrote:

AKPirate wrote:

Feelin' Fowl wrote:Congratulation on completing your project Tucker. Your place looks great! I wouldn't have torn that up either.

I would have, lawns suck without peasants

A black kid mows my lawn. I didn't want to look racist so I over pay him. He's a nice kid.

Fuckin racist!

I'm only half racist, he's half white!

Half in hell still sucks your strange camel dick sucking analogy....

3legged_lab wrote:Either way its a good time frame, it looks like you've got a great system.

I hope so. I tried to research and put as much forethought as possible into it.
Now it's just a matter of waiting and seeing how the savings go.
Last winter our highest monthly bill was just over $400 in February. I'd love to see that cut in half.

Nice spread you have there. My cousin runs one of the geo units and says it saves him loads.

Geosucker.

aunt betty wrote:Geosucker.

Been working on that for hours, haven't you?