edatoakrun
Well-known member
Given your minimal cooling needs, have you looked into evaporate cooling rather than AC?
Geothermal is far more efficient.
Costs are highly dependent on your source of constant temperature fluid. This usually involves very expensive trenching or drilling to cycle your coolant back to earth temperature, after it is heated or cooled in the process of cooling or heating your house.
I installed a well-sourced open loop heat pump when I built my home in 1995. I have a "climatemaster" three ton, and the entire installation including the sheet metal and duct work was only about $6k. I did the plumbing lines and connections myself, which probably would have cost ~$1,000 additional. Other than filter cleaning, one bad solder joint repaired under warranty, and one electrical connection that vibrated loose (~$150 service call) it has required no maintenance.
Like you, I have minimal cooling needs, in my case because I have a passive solar home with sufficient thermal mass to use night time cooling for most of my needs. When I do need the AC, usually late afternoons when outside ambient temps are above ~100 F (a few degrees lower than when my LEAF parked outside begins to show seven temperature bars) I simply use the heated "waste" water for irrigation purposes.
I heat primarily with wood. Since the fall of 2011, on PG&E E9 TOU rates, it would actually be much cheaper to heat with the heat pump than with wood, but I really like having the stove going, and I cut my own firewood as a byproduct of my property management. I did make about the same amount of money in the last year selling firewood, as my total home (and LEAF) electricity and propane (cook stove and back-up for solar hot water) bill, as well as the ~50 gallons of gasoline I burned, so I was pretty close to being net energy independent for the first time in my life.
Boomer23 said:
Geothermal is far more efficient.
Costs are highly dependent on your source of constant temperature fluid. This usually involves very expensive trenching or drilling to cycle your coolant back to earth temperature, after it is heated or cooled in the process of cooling or heating your house.
I installed a well-sourced open loop heat pump when I built my home in 1995. I have a "climatemaster" three ton, and the entire installation including the sheet metal and duct work was only about $6k. I did the plumbing lines and connections myself, which probably would have cost ~$1,000 additional. Other than filter cleaning, one bad solder joint repaired under warranty, and one electrical connection that vibrated loose (~$150 service call) it has required no maintenance.
Like you, I have minimal cooling needs, in my case because I have a passive solar home with sufficient thermal mass to use night time cooling for most of my needs. When I do need the AC, usually late afternoons when outside ambient temps are above ~100 F (a few degrees lower than when my LEAF parked outside begins to show seven temperature bars) I simply use the heated "waste" water for irrigation purposes.
I heat primarily with wood. Since the fall of 2011, on PG&E E9 TOU rates, it would actually be much cheaper to heat with the heat pump than with wood, but I really like having the stove going, and I cut my own firewood as a byproduct of my property management. I did make about the same amount of money in the last year selling firewood, as my total home (and LEAF) electricity and propane (cook stove and back-up for solar hot water) bill, as well as the ~50 gallons of gasoline I burned, so I was pretty close to being net energy independent for the first time in my life.
