Loghome Mich Geothermal - saying hello!

[mtbdudex]

Hi;
My name is Mike, we built our loghome Aug-2001 thru May-2002, the move in date.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_FqTNmgNQHz8/R5f8-98r65I/AAAAAAAAA_w/3uUKLOUswZY/s400/DSCN3604.JPG

We have a close loop Geothermal system, some info here http://mmrosinski.tripod.com/loghome/id19.html.
Pict here (build picts in the link above)
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_FqTNmgNQHz8/RfkSVXyljkI/AAAAAAAAKZ8/1TVMjiD6Qpg/s400/DSCN3545.JPG

For a few years I even plotted the energy usage on a graph, some find it useful to see.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_FqTNmgNQHz8/SsaRf-l69GI/AAAAAAAAKcI/fSVv0V0DBYc/s800/dtedec2006.jpg

My system is almost 9 years old, I'm studying where the changes have come in the past 9 years in Geothermal systems.
This forum is..neat to me, I'm a engineer by degree.

I'll be reviewing the forums for now, and possible adding my thoughts also.
regards,
Mike R, P.E.

[Chris_Worthington]

Welcome aboard !!:D

[Tech23]

Welcome Mike,

Glad to have you aboard...I think you will enjoy this site, I know I have. :yes:


Good luck and enjoy yourself. :CU:

[mtbdudex]

Thx guys, I look fwd to the technical nature of this site, using fact based data as the basis for discussions instead of opinions.

[Tech23]

Thx guys, I look fwd to the technical nature of this site, using fact based data as the basis for discussions instead of opinions.

Well....you are going to find that there are alot of different opinions here and many of them are fact based. Often times in the HVAC field there are many different ways to skin a cat, however I think you will find the discussions very insightful.

[hvacsteve82]

mtbdudex, Beautiful home! There has always been a special place in my heat for log homes, although they are tricky to air seal at times! You should post some of your pictures and data in the Going Green: Geo Thermal / Water Source section. You open up a bunch of conversations from people looking to do the same thing as you, to professionals with tips and tricks that may help you! Welcome to the community!:yes:

[keeplearnin]

That's a great graph, you seem very well organized for an engineer- just kidding.

[mtbdudex]

mtbdudex, Beautiful home! There has always been a special place in my heat for log homes, although they are tricky to air seal at times! You should post some of your pictures and data in the Going Green: Geo Thermal / Water Source section. You open up a bunch of conversations from people looking to do the same thing as you, to professionals with tips and tricks that may help you! Welcome to the community!:yes:
Thx, I'll do that. Yes, I've learned that sealing is a ongoing thing for log homes, especially first 2-3 years before the logs truly settle into their place.
I'm not sure how many log homes are LEED certified, mine was design/built before that.


That's a great graph, you seem very well organized for an engineer- just kidding.

Whats cool about the graph is just visually you can grasp:
-Max heat bill in winter never above $200, for a home my size (3,000 sq ft load) that is great, some neighbors have had over $400 for same month! That includes Hot H20 as it's on that meter as well. GeoThermal is great!
-Hot H20 costs approx $40-ish/month, give or take. In late summer months there have been weeks where the Geothermal never kicked on, so just hot H20 load. Thats about what the sticker on those 8 year old electric H20 said also.....$459/year.
-avg HVAC + hot H20 cost is $80-ish/month year round......not bad

I recently (just 10 days ago) installed a GE Hybrid hot H20 heater before the 2010 tax credit expired, will be interesting to see truly how much "less" my bills (or Kwh usage) are.
(and per GE tech line did NOT connect up the hot H20 convection loop, you can see that pipe un-connected at the bottom....that's a story for a thread I'll post in appropriate forum here later....)
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_FqTNmgNQHz8/TShvORWLzEI/AAAAAAAAL8E/idPQuXqxSSI/_MG_3700.jpg

My real long term desire is........more green via solar and wind.....will have to do this before those tax credits expire.....end of 2016??
That tech is changing fast, so for now I'm watching that as well.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_FqTNmgNQHz8/SYGyRYyhkqI/AAAAAAAAL8I/IiZP9qb5e5k/1387KendraRenewableEnergyMap.JPG