# geothermal



## backachersfarm (Jun 14, 2005)

My husband has been back in school to learn heating and cooling. They have been doing a lot of work with geothermal units the last few weeks. He is going on a field trip today to observe a unit his instructor installed in a friends pool house. They have attached to this persons well as a source ofwater and circulate it too a pond at the rate of 3 gallons and hour....24/7
I'd like ot have some feedback from others here who know anything at all about geothermal. I view this as a serious waste of water that may meet the need of cheap energy, but at the cost of future safe drinking water.

Sharon


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

No it isn't a waste of water if done correctly with a closed loop..

You run you loop into the pond, it then transfers the heat/cooling from the loop to the surrounding water and returns the heated/cooled back to the house. There is no transfer of liquid from the loop to the pond/well.. 

You can also bury the loop in the ground as long as it is deep enough to stay at a constant temperature..

Think of it this way,

A cold celler, root cellar stays at a constant temp, approx 52 degrees

Now if you run a loop from your geothermal system into the cellar it will transfer heat/cold into the cellar and the liquid in the loop returns to the system at 52 degrees which then makes it easier to heat/cool to the temp you want it at..

If it is 20 degrees outside and you are bringing outside air in to your furnace it requires a lot of fuel to heat it to the 70 degree temp that you would like it at, but if it is coming in at 52 degrees it is easier to heat to the 70 degrees you want..

I hope that makes sense.. I know I'm not the best and relating the info to others.. But then that is why I draw the pictures they use to build these and other commercial HVAC & plumbing systems...


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## backachersfarm (Jun 14, 2005)

Thanks for the info. This one isn't closed at all. It just runs into a pond that isn't used for anything.


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

backachersfarm said:


> Thanks for the info. This one isn't closed at all. It just runs into a pond that isn't used for anything.


ok, still the pond water should not come into contact with anything other then the piping and a heat/cooling transfer point. So I can't see that the water would be affected by anything.. Now granted I wouldn't drink the water either unless it has been filtered. Drinking from an open source such as a pond isn't a good idea anyway. There are way to many pollutants/bugs/microbes in the water unless you know the source of the water.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

beowolf,

By the sounds of it, it takes well water and runs it though the system and then dumps it into the pond. Open loop systems like that have been have been outlawed in many areas. They waste clean well water and are costly to run as the well pump has to run to supply water for the system.


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## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

wy_white_wolf said:


> beowolf,
> 
> By the sounds of it, it takes well water and runs it though the system and then dumps it into the pond. Open loop systems like that have been have been outlawed in many areas. They waste clean well water and are costly to run as the well pump has to run to supply water for the system.


Ok, I have heard of the open loop systems but never had any dealings with them.. As I said I wouldn't drink the water anyway..

The only systems we've ever used and designed only used a closed loop system.. and both loops went through a heat exchanger.. 

I can understand the waste then and understand why they are being outlawed..


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## backachersfarm (Jun 14, 2005)

Beowoulf..I think you have missed my point here completely. I understand the difference between closed and open loop systems....it's the ethics of it I question. White Wolf...you are exactly right. I appreciate your input on this. I wasn't aware some states had outlawed this, but I think they should. I viewed this as a waste of drinking quality water...even tho we don't have issues with drought here so far.

Thanks
Sharon


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## artificer (Feb 26, 2007)

Using the thermal energy of well water is great if you have a use for the water. My uncle made an AC unit for his house when he built it. Truck radiator in the duct, and the water went to water the windbreak trees he planted. Then the garden, then he moved.

If the pond doesn't have a spring, and needs to be refilled (small pond), then its not that much of a waste of water.

3 gallons an hour is only 72 gallons a day. Less than the average american uses daily. I guess it depends on where you are located. If this was in California, I'd want to shoot the person that did this due to their sever lack of water. If its somewhere that get a lot of rain (pacific northwest?) and the aquifer never goes down, it might be ok.

3 gph is at max about 480btu of energy from the water. If you really meant 3gallons per minute, thats a different story. 60 times as much, or 4300 gallons per day. Unless its being used for something (watering a greenhouse, livestock...) then its just wrong.


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## Bluecometk (Jun 20, 2009)

I have a Geo System and mine brings water from a well, processes it and then deposits its water back into a well that is down stream from the intake. No chemicals are used or touch the water. Itâs only a few degrees warmer. Have had it 10 years. Electrical Costs have been minimal, one super duty well pump that would not pump the 60+ psi I need and one well pump switch. Note had one other problem but not the systems fault. The house was hit by lightening and blew up the compressor capacitor which intern burned up the compressor from trying to start without it. All in all I am happy with the system.

Just my two cents

Bluecometk


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## meddac (Nov 21, 2008)

There are three types of geothermal, deep well, underground closed loop and in the bottom of a pond closed loop. the poster is refering to deep well. It replaces the water used from the deep well so no waste of water. I have a pond system and it works great and also the most economical as long as you have a pond 8 feet deep or more.


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## Thatch (Jun 25, 2002)

Sorry to ask the stupid questions... but can you not take from a well, run it through your exchanger and dump the water back down the same well?


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## Farm 36 (Mar 21, 2009)

I would not advise taking water from a well and putting back in the well. Clean water is getting very hard to find and keep clean. If a problem developes you could be putting something in the well that is bad and then the well and other wells would be bad.


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