Comments for Geothermal Energy

Comment on Geothermal Heating and Cooling by John Powell

John Powell — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 08:12:16 +0000

An ideal engine proposed by Carnot says the best efficiency achievable is (1 – (Temp-cold / Temp-hot)). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnot_heat_engine Simply put, no heat engine can ever reach 100% efficiency, let alone 400% I understand that this is not a closed system but still don’t understand how you create more energy than what you put into it.

Comment on Geothermal Energy – Heating, Cooling and Ground Source Power by Best Solar Water Heaters

Best Solar Water Heaters — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 12:24:13 +0000

The geothermal heat pump system uses the ground which contains the same temperature in summer as well as in winter. Good information about cheap and effective energy source.

Comment on Geothermal Calculator by JOHN

JOHN — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:58:06 +0000

LOOKING FOR A NEW SYSTEM

Comment on Geothermal Energy – Heating, Cooling and Ground Source Power by anthony abila

anthony abila — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:11:17 +0000

i am doing a report on gethermal i am wondering if it truely is the most efficiant compared to all others, and if not then does it at the very least make energy slightly efficiant?
regards, anthony

Comment on Geothermal Calculator by George

George — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:49:16 +0000

This calculator doesn’t work – at least not in FireFox 11 and IE 8.

Comment on Heat pumps by Benefits Geothermal Heat Pumps at Green Building, Metal Roofing, Solar Panels & Geothermal Energy

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:28:32 +0000

[...] factor and helps ensure that the upkeep is done in a timely fashion. Also, since geothermal pumps (ground source heat pump) have no outside condensing units like air conditioners, there’s no concern about noise [...]

Comment on Geothermal Calculator by John Kennard

John Kennard — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 07:47:44 +0000

Where are calculations?

Comment on Geothermal Energy – Heating, Cooling and Ground Source Power by admin

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:09:35 +0000

Nancy,

In your first comment you did not specify that you had electric HEAT PUMP before you installed Geothermal Heating.

My assumption was based on the fact that 99% of all heating systems use some sort of fossil fuels – even electricity comes from coal or gas most of the time, and electric baseboard heat is the most expensive type of heat. Therefore my assessment was based on this assumption.

Heat pump, be it a non-geothermal as in your case is already “efficient”, and is very popular in Northern Europe (Finland / Sweden / Norway). So you are comparing to efficient hearing systems against each other, and in your case the geothermal also comes with the water pump that must circulate heat exchange liquid through the loops.

Now I do not know all the details about your geothermal system – maybe there is an issue with design or installation – I don’t know. Maybe you should try calling a different Geothermal contractor or get an energy audit from your local utility company (these are usually free).

Bottom line – geothermal should be more efficient that just pure heat pump. However, like I said – maybe it’s a faulty system design, or maybe the loops were laid wrong, or there is not enough loops (undersized system) or maybe something else. Get a second opinion from local professionals.

Good luck.

Comment on Geothermal Energy – Heating, Cooling and Ground Source Power by Nancy Oliver

Nancy Oliver — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:11:34 +0000

Yes you are totally missing something. My system before the geo was a 12-15 year old ALL ELECTRIC heat pump. My new ALL ELECTRIC $47,000 geo system is not saving me a dime. What’s the upside over a new more efficient conventional unit?!?

Of course I did NOT expect it to be free. I would be thrilled with 25% of my prior heating / cooling energy consumption.

Do you have a different assessment now?

Regards.

Comment on Geothermal Energy – Heating, Cooling and Ground Source Power by admin

admin — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:37:30 +0000

Nancy – your electric bill is supposed to go UP when you install geothermal heating system – not down.

Think about it: Geothermal is essentially a heat pump, a water pump to circulate the heat exchange liquid through the loops, and a fan to distribute the warm air through air ducts. ALL operate using electricity!

What you get in return – you do not use OIL / GAS / ELECTRICITY to heat / cool your house directly. The benefit is that you are using only about 1/4 of the energy in dollar terms.

Did you expect to eliminate use of oil / gas and that have geothermal system operate for free???

I agree with the installer – everything is fine, unless I am missing something or you did not provide additional information.