The Boiler Inside Me

aurizon,

You are correct, until lately we have focused upon convenience rather than efficiency.

Lack off insulation or insufficient insulation is the greatest correction we can make towards effective use of energy regardless of it's form.

I agree with the first poster and I believe that Geothermal energy will be the major player in the future. The big issue is initial capital cost but many places on the planet could extract huge quantities of GTP but then what? Long term I believe the energy solution will be a combination of GTP (produced in appropriate areas far away from the users) and superconducting power systems (still in the infancy of development).

If I understand, the differences between solar and geothermal; once it enters the house, are nil.

So while geothermal looks stupendous outside of the drilling costs, my habitat in New Mexico is an absolutely geothermal "dead zone".

But being able to tap the solar manufacturers for distribution equipment should lower goethermal costs substantially. The cost of doing radiant heat either in-floor, in-wall, or in-radiator has plummeted over the last few years - if you stay below boiling point of water.

It's all about deriving energy from the earth's core. - Actually it is from the sun. The ground is storing solar energy that we are using unless you are going REAL, REAL deep with your boreholes. Why do you think the subsurface water temperature decreases as you go toward the poles?

The initial set up is pricey, but a super efficient geothermal system will for itself in a few years. - Have you really run the ROI on these systems? Without rebates or tax incentives paybacks can be 10 to 25 years; yes you could be replacing the system before it pays for itself.

There's no big clunky equipment to junk up the environment. - I missed the government study on this one or did USGBC do one?

Geothermal is an option it is not a cure all. Don't you see that it about the big picture and not just the box in the basement. Who cares if you use geothermal if you have no roof insulation or an all window building. As for LEED, why don't they use after construction utility bills instead of models to prove green buildings work?

It appears that, whenever we seem to have a new alternative available something mucks up the works. Regarding geothermal....has anyone thought about the potential negative impact on our planet??? How do we move the energy from the ground and back??? What about a change in the temperature of the ground and it's impact in high population density locales? What happens when pollutants are carried along with the fluids into the ground???

Given the potential problems associated with widespread underatatdni and acceptance of geothermal systems, alongwith the first cost, I believe it will be a long time before this becomes a practical alternative.

My opnion...nuclear is the clear answer.

What happens when pollutants are carried along with the fluids into the ground???

Require a closed loop if cycling pollutants

The cost of Geothermal HVACR installation is high because of the way the technology is applied. Now, we drill holes in the ground to recover energy to be used in the Heating or Cooling process. Why don't we use air and ground source energy at the same time? This reduces the cost of drilling (the expensive Part of the installation) and accomplishes the same purpose. By mixing the two energy sources, air can be used to it's limit, then ground source energy can be used.

Explain better please, how transfer heat if you not drill?

In my location standard freon based air cooled heat pumps can be combined with geothermal technology. After the freon passes through the condenser coil it is routed to ground loops to further cool the freon. This reduces the head pressure and differential pressure between HI and LO side pressures. This reduces the work the compressor has to do which reduces your electric bill. This system reduces the impact of heat transfer to the ground since some heat is removed by the air cooled condenser coil. But the air cooled side is limited by the ambient temperature, where the ground temperature is around 55 deg F year around. This technology is called Direct Exchange.

How about underground water storage, used to store heat mass from solar, and used later in the year to heat.

I think I will wait until they can drill down enough to create a volcano in my family room. that way I will get free heat and a free tropical vacation spot.

http://www.rexxsales.com

They need to re-design all the parts for low cost and high reliability. Right now we have pseudo proprietary systems that are quite expensive. Part of the problem is the low volume-black art nature of the beast.

Once we get there, the economics will shift to favor it.