We are located in Deming,NM 30 miles north of the Mexican border
in the high desert. Our elevation is 4550 feet. We have cool nights, 65 in
summer and 18-20 in the winter. Days are in the 90's in the summer with
about 20 days getting into the 100's. Winter days never stay freezing.
Sometimes they are in the upper 30's but most of the time in the upper 40's
or 50's. We do not get snow, only a dusting every 2-3 years. Humidity is
low all the time, about 10-15 % except for the rainy season in the summer
then it gets up to 30-35%. We have no shade but in the spring it is windy,
between 30-40 mph for about 2 months, almost every day. At present we use
an un-vented heater (propane) at one end of the house. This heats the
family room, kitchen, dining room and LR (big open area) and is enough to
keep the bedroom in the high 50's at night. We have 4 bedrooms and 2
bathrooms but only use 1 bedroom and bathroom at the one end of the house
where the heater is. The other 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom are at the other
end and are closed off.We have a 2400 sq foot manufactured home with 2x6
walls, R35 in the ceiling, R19 in the walls and R19 in the floors. It
measures 80x32 feet. One 32 foot end faces mostly north and one 32 foot end
faces mostly south. This end has only 1 window. The big sides face the
east and west and have most of the windows. We just use a little over 1/2 of
the space for living, the rest has the doors closed and the heaters shut off
We have a forced air propane furnace but only used it one year and felt it
was a waste so we shut it off and started to use the room heater. For
cooling we use 2 swamp coolers which for the most part do a good job except
for the rainy season. Our ground never freezes because it is so dry. We do
not have permafrost. We have 120 acres of flat ground, no rocks. Our water
well is 294 feet down.
The reason we decided to do something different is first the
cost of propane. When we first bought propane here it was 88 cents 10 years
ago, now it is close to $3. The second reason is my husband us getting
unsteady on his feet and unable to get on the roof to service the coolers.
Just this year we had to have a new copper water pipe connected to one of
the coolers and they charged us $140 for 20 minuets of work and we supplied
the copper.. Since my husband has been unable to service the coolers we
have had a hard time finding people to disconnect and connect them in the
fall and spring. Our elect has stayed stable at .086 cents per KW.
The price we got for a air source heat pump with re-doing all
our duct work to make it work perfect, was $17,000. This seemed very high
to us. We have someone working on an estimate for a ground source heat pump
but he does not have it done yet. I am getting scared because he keeps
saying, you know this will not be cheap and little hints like it maybe tons
and tons of money. We know what ever we do will cost us more to run than we
spend now but we are afraid of getting in over our heads, spending 1000's of
dollars and ending up with a big monthly utility bill. Presently the elect
usage is in the area of 500-700 KW per month. The months the coolers work
the bill is $15-20 more.
After reading you letter, and doing some research, we are now
considering a ductless mini split heat pump system. Everything we have read
about it looks good but it is easy to be fooled. Even the Dept of Energy
has good things to say about how easy they are to install and how efficient
they are to operate. We only use one part of the house at a time so that is
a plus and it may fit into our life style without spending $1000's of extra
dollars. What we wonder is how much of our use will the heat pump provide
before it has to use elect. for heat and cooling which can really add up.
Being as we do not have below 0 temps and it does not freeze during the day,
it may be a good option.
We are also considering having a solar water heat installed. We have
sun almost every day and do not have days and days of clouds like we did
when we lived our whole live in western PA. I think I read we has something
like 315 days of sun a year, maybe more.
Let me know if you think we are on the right track or should we be
thinking about some other path to look into. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Janet and Bruce Leckemby
18840 Hwy 549 SE
Deming, NM 88030
jandb@wildblue.
-------Original Message-----
From: LarenCorie
Date: 08/21/08 10:18:54
To: renewable-energy@
Subject: [renewable-energy] Re: Ground Source Heat Pump
Posted by: "Janet Leckemby" jandb@wildblue.
> We are considering having a ground source Heat pump installed
> for our home.
Hello Janet and Bruce;
Where are you located? (so I can look up you climate info)
Briefly describe your house, its heating system, insulation, and
what it takes to heat and cool it currently (preferabley in fuel
units, rather than dollars)
Also, describe current shading, the shape of the house, which
compass direction the long walls are facing, and the south wall
in general.
> We read and read how good they are, even a lot better than
> an air source heat pump
Air source heat pumps are a very useful tool, for the right
job, but don't use an ax to fix you car engine. The real trick
is in knowing what to use, or not to use, and how to use it.
Ground source heat pumps are usually more efficient than
air source heat pumps, but they also cost several to many
times as much, so one may not be nearly as good an
investment as increasing your insulation, shading, venting,
etc, and using a different heating and cooling systems.
There may be very good options that you have not
considered, because they were not as profitable to
the people who you spoke, as a very expensive
GSHP would be. The main reason that GSHPs
are gaining popularity, is that they are extremely
profitable. But that only cost you. What have
you done to increase the enegy efficiency of
your house, instead of its heating system?
> we are interested in hearing from some people out
> there that have one or have had experience with one.
Testimonials are notorious for being misleading, that
is why they are the number one tool of companies the
cheat people. Most people who spend huge amounts
of money on something, that works okay, will give it
high praise. Ground source heat pumps work. That
can be accepted. However, also know that when
John Staube of Brace Institute in Ontario, did a
study of GSHP systems along the Canadian-US
border, that most only performed at an annual
COP ("Coefficient Of Performance"
of heating or cooling energy produced, relative to
the amount of electrical energy used) of between
1.5 and 2. That is considerably below the sales
pitch figures that get thrown around.
> We just need a little practical information
> on the subject, both pro's and con's.
A GSHP is often a very good option for improving
the performance of an existing house. For new
construction, where the house itself can be built to
require little or no conventional heating and cooling,
GSHPs are simple huge overkill. But, it already
sounds like your existing house is an energy money
pit, so a GSHP, may be your answer. However,
also remember that energy costs will continue to
rise, and it is very possible that something will
happen to make them rise at an even faster rate.
So, reducing the amount of outside energy that
your house consumers, as opposed to buying a
way to make that bought energy go further, is a
strong hedge against future energy cost increase,
that a GSHP simply cannot give you. This is the
"Renewable-Energy" YahooGroup. I, and I
expect others are willing to show you how
renewable energy (like simple low-cost Solar
heating) can save you more heating cost, than
a GSHP while also helping the planet, and
setting a healthier example for your friends,
neighbors, and family.
-Laren Corie-
Natural Solar Building Design Since 1975
www.ThermalAttic.
Read my Solar house design articles in:
-Energy Self-Sufficiency Newsletter-
www.rebelwolf.
Home base:
LittleHouses YahooGroup
http://groups.
WoodGas - Power from wood
http://groups.
Solar Power Corps - Spreading the Word
http://groups.
RefrigeratorAlterna
http://groups.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE RENEWABLE ENERGY LIST.
----------------------------------------------------------
. This e-mail discussion list is managed by
the American Wind Energy Association:
http://www.awea.org
----------------------------------------------------------
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
0 komentar:
Post a Comment