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Geothermal heating cooling
I made a sort of a 'geothermal' system for my shop at home.
Basically it is a radiator from a Ford diesel pickup mounted in the plenum of an old Newmac wood/oil furnace I have in the shop. It is fed with water from a dug well which also supplies the washroom, the water comes up, through the rad and back into the well. In my case the permanent water table is only about 8' below grade so it is an endless supply.
I only use it in the summer as a cooling system, I drain it every fall, if I wanted to use it as heat I would need to make an exchanger and run some sort of freeze-protected fluid such as anti-freeze, but I am concerned about a leak which would be straight into the ground water. It lowers the temp by 10-15 deg. but more importantly it sucks an incredible amount of moisture out of the air.
I plan on replacing the oil furnace with a geothermal eventually, but in the interim I burn so much free firewood that the heat bill is pretty small anyways.
Best of luck.
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Geothermal heating cooling
Dave, I collect the condensate in a 55 gal. plastic drum, the rad is high enough to gravity drain.
I have a steady stream of people who want it, everything from topping up batteries and radiators to one neighbour who is a homeopathic healer and won't even let her dog drink well water, instead she gives it make 'distilled water', I don't tell her about her dog drinking from puddles in my yard when it comes to play with my pooch,  .
In the course of clearing for golf courses we generate a LOT of hardwood logs, I have a lifetime supply of firewood.
Ken, I have heard other people complaining about waterFurnace also, there are a few hybrid systems made locally here that have excellent reputations.
Best of luck.
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Geothermal heating cooling
I installed a geothermal system in the house some 10'ish years ago to replace an aging forced air oil system. In my case I'm located in a broad river valley and the water table is between 36" - 40" below grade so wells were shallow and cheap.
Up until the spike in electricity rates beginning a couple of years ago it was a screaming good deal. Now it's probably lost about half of it's advantage, but that still makes it very cost-effective.
I wouldn't hesitate to do it all over again and in fact am planning a hybrid of forced air and in-floor radiant geothermal and wood-burning system in the new house I'm hoping to start on this summer.
Best of luck.
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Gas Generator Weather Protecti
03-03-2004, 09:24 
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