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Topic:   Geothermal heat exchanger - 584 visits (1 today, 1 this week)

Terry Beck
Member


Posts: 28
From:Hamilton, Montana
Registered: Aug 2005

posted November 12, 2005 11:36 AM            

Any ideals on what to look for when inspecting homes with Geothermal heat exchangers? Past forum posts are few and limited. I am of course a generalist, and will refer buyer to a HVAC pro that specializes in these systems for further eval. But still, would like to be able to make some limited observations in inspection report. Have previously done a little light reading on the subject, so know a couple of basics (even this far north in Montana, I see 3 to 4 of these a year in higher end homes). This one is 'ClimatMaster'; likely a closed loop system using the well for geothermal exchange. Most good systems that I've seeen have a backup heat source for 'boost' mode, or if geothermal fails. Generally the systems I have seen have electric heat backup with an electric meter (similar to meter at electric service entrance) that monitors level of backup heat versus geothermal for measuring efficiency. Inspected a house yesterday (I can go back if need) that had been vacant for while so was pretty cool inside; I turned heat system up as soon as I arrived. Even 3 hours later, noted that the geothermal electric monitor meter was spinning around like crazy. This system also apparantly is first stage for pre-heating domestic hot water (before two electric hot water heaters in a series; these were also turned off at breaker). No obvious leaks for visible failure points. Are there any basic measurements or observations that would be appropriate for a Home Inspection Report?

Jeffrey Mathis
Member


Posts: 31
From:Grimesland, N.C
Registered: Feb 2005

posted November 16, 2005 03:05 PM            

It's just a heat pump. But using water instead of air. I have one. A closed loop system and no backup. Most I'm familiar with don't. Might be nice, but if you have power, you have heat or cool. If you have no power, back-up is useless. Frankly I've never had a problem and never thought to take it apart.

David Banks
Member


Posts: 346
From:Southborough, MA.
Registered: Mar 2004

posted November 17, 2005 06:01 AM         

Where is the energy savings with all the electric pre heating going on?
Dave

Ken Bates
Member


Posts: 183
From:Boston Massachusetts
Registered: Jan 2005

posted November 21, 2005 11:33 PM            

I have inspected one of the two deep well geothermal heat pumps in my state. There were 3 wells and one was 450' deep. I did not know that ths was a rather unique system until I showed up.

You can't or shouldn't speak about the below grade part of the system except to CYA. The rest is just basic heat pump stuff.
(one thing that is impressive vis a vis water source heat pumps is the small size of the heat exchangers)

Doug Haglund
Member


Posts: 15
From:Elmwood, Wi.
Registered: Feb 2003

posted December 18, 2005 06:24 AM            

I will be inspecting a home with a open loop system, can anybody tell me the differents between open & closed loops, & what to look for in open loop.

Scott Patterson
Member



Posts: 2976
From:Ridgeland (Jackson), MS
Registered: Mar 2001

posted December 18, 2005 08:50 AM            

Doug,
Try this site it will tell you all you need to know:
http://www.toolbase.org/techinv/techDetails.aspx?technologyID=130

I have used this site many time for info on various systems.

Doug Haglund
Member


Posts: 15
From:Elmwood, Wi.
Registered: Feb 2003

posted December 19, 2005 06:28 AM            

Thanks, Scott good site.

Carl Eisen
New Member


Posts: 2
From:West Bend, WI
Registered: Oct 2005

posted December 19, 2005 04:53 PM            

I have had a few of these as a home builder. We installed then in the late 80's. I am from the SE Wisconsin region and we have a mineral content in our deap water wells. This mineral content played havoc with these heating systems requiring frequent visits from the manufacter to repaid and replace sensors. These systems were all the open loop style systems. The manufacter has since pulled out of the region. This may be a regional problem but I would advise that these systems have to be inspected and maintained. Not a flip the switch and forget about it system.

Marcel Gratton
New Member


Posts: 13
From:Gatineau, Quebec
Registered: Jul 2002

posted December 24, 2005 05:46 PM            

http://www.climatemaster.com/

Hope this helps

------------------
Marcel Gratton
On The Level Inspection
Gatineau, Quebec

Phillip Stojanik
Member


Posts: 872
From:Houston, Texas
Registered: Aug 2002

posted December 24, 2005 09:37 PM            

In all my prior years as an HVAC contractor I have to confess limited experience with these types of systems. I have worked on a few as an HVAC contractor (because the original installers vanished from the scene and I was always willing to accept new challenges) and I have inspected such systems as a home inspector with an HVAC background.

Frankly, I remain unimpressed with these kinds of systems. Don’t get me wrong, the principle behind them is sound but the expense of such systems tend to make them impractical (which is why we see so few of them and when we do see them they tend to be in high end homes because only people with money to burn seem to get talked into them).

From an inspection standpoint, there is way too much that is not going to be visible to the inspector. So what you can report on is always going to be limited; make sure you point that out to your client. The best you can do is evaluate the apparent function of the system based on the ambient conditions at the time of inspection. If it’s the middle of summer and you are testing the heat, then make a note in your report about the differences in operational character of a system in a certain mode of operation during the “off” season. (The same goes for testing the cooling in the dead of winter).

Also, don’t be afraid to warn your client that this is considered to be a bastard system and that they may have trouble finding competent contractors to service it in the future. That does not mean that they will not be able to find good people to work on such a bastard system in the future, it just means that its going to cost them more to maintain such that system than it would to maintain a ‘legitimate’ system. Of course, that may not be an issue for the high end home buyer who has money to burn.