> There are ground-based heat pumps ... via a network of buried pipes... > But this can get very expensive. The decision is economic: How many > thousands of dollars will you spend to save a dollar a month?
Well the math is easy. I was spending $3000 a year on heating oil (1000 gallons). My Ground Source heatpump now heats the house for about $1000 worth of (utility) electricity a year. That saves me $2000 a year, or $20,000 over ten years and more than paid for the added cost of the deep wells. And I plan on living for another 25 or so... The wells last "forever" and any replacement indoor units are the same whether it is geothermal or not. So I figure the $40,000 or so savings over the remaining time in that house is much more than a "dollar a month"... AND my house is solar, so in effect, my electricity is actually FREE after the 10 year amortorization. SO in the second 10 years, my savings are $3000 a year or $30,000 for the next decade and so on. >> Heatpump water heater heating at one third the electric energy >> cost still beats a tankless hands down. > That's true in the right circumstances. But you can't assume they > are always right. How long is it between when the water is heated, > and when it is used? The longer it sits, the higher your standby losses. > The demand heater doesn't lose any energy to these standby losses. But I use hot water every day, morning and evening. I adjust the capacity (by adjusting the termprature) so that we only maintain the hot water we need. > The savings are hard to estimate because they depend so much on where > you live, and your lifestyle. Is the heater in a hot garage, or a cold basement? > How much hot water do you use a day? Just one person, or a big family? Yep, anyone installing a water heater should of course size it to their needs in that installation. > In my case (water heater in MN basement, a 2-person household that uses > less than 10 gal/day) a heat pump water heater is uneconomical compared to gas. But if one has an anathema to continuing to burn a fossil fuel and continuing dependence on the utility gas company for fuel every month forever, then a heatpump water heater is ideal, since it can run on your own home-produced solar power.... > Problems that go away by themselves will be back with friends. I like that. Bob _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
