Anyone have any experience with Geothermal "Water Furnace" systems. Thinking about replacing the oil burner forced air furnace with one. Live in central Ohio. Wonder how durable they are. Vendor says that the loop is warranties for 50 years and the furnace 10 years on parts and labor.
LJ
It is funny you post this now. I just had a Water Furnace E030 installed last week. So far it has been working since Friday night. The loop lost pressure Saturday so little heat was available (I could not get the house above 66 without the unit running constantly). The installers came by and pumped up the loop on Monday. Keep in mind that the loop expands and will need to be repressurized during the first few weeks and after a year. Monday night the pressure dropped again but they will be back on Thursday to pump up the loop again. It is a little loud, I can't tell if the noise is the compressor or the ductwork (I am thinking it is the compressor). It does take time to get the bugs worked out, so for me the jury is still out.
Jason
Thanks Jason, is yours a closed loop or a vertical shaft? I was not aware that you had to pressurize the system. As I understood it , the system was closed loop. Keep us posted.
LJ
WRONG! If you have to keep pumping the system up, you have a leak. Guess what, the 27 SEER Climatemaster 4 ton system we last installed has been running fine with no pump ups or working out bugs. Its all in the driller and installer. 4 vertical 150 ft shafts drilled. No leaks, No muss, No fuss. Almost 0 degrees out a few nights and it has kept the house at 70 with no additional back up heat required. We purposely left the breakers to the backup heat off just to see how well it would do. Sorry about the problems you've had. I hope you didnt look for the cheapest installers??? Bubba
We have a 2100 sq.ft. older home (c.1974) - split foyer with hydronic baseboard and an electric boiler. The whole systems needs an upgrade. I have just begun looking into Geothernal Heating systems. I'm curious what do the cost - roughly?
Steve
There are 2 types, vertical well and sealed plastic pipe.
the vertical well allows water to free flow, the plastic pipe loop buried in ground has to be pumped up initially, and shouldnt leak.
Our water furnace is at 18yrs with only a blower motor replacement. It holds it own even at the -25C temperatures we get here without resorting to backup. This is an open loop system so requires periodic descaling or else it freezes. Maybe I've just been lucky but it has been at least as durable as your average oil/gas furnace. Our entire subdivision was built with these furnaces and they seem to have a life span of 17-20years.
I'm in Columbus Metro and considering geothermal also. I've followed this industry for over 10 yrs and have researched it well. So important is the quality of the installation. Email me if you'd like and perhaps we could Skype, etc.
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