Investigating New Geothermal System
Greetings All!
I'm new to this discussion board, but have found it very informative.
From what I've read, there seem to be issues with both of the major brands of geothermal systems: FHP and WaterFurnace. As I have NO experience with any geothermal system, I was wondering if anyone would please enlighten me as to the 'true' reliability of the different geothermal manufacturers. I realize a good installer is key, but that aside - a good installer can't compensate for a defective design [as we've witnessed here]. In other worlds, who right now has the most reliable design [I'm not looking to go cheap on the units cost]. Quality over cost.
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Any insights would be appreciated.
Tim
WF customer update... and a AC related horror story!
Another HVAC issue has prompted me to update this thread. Both of my original coils were replaced by the original contractor at a out-of-pocket cost of $600. Both units appear to be working fine so far.
This past Saturday I went upstairs to retrieve something from storage (a somewhat rare task... maybe every few weeks) and noticed water dripping from a ceiling AC vent onto the guest bedroom carpet. I went up into the attic and found the condensation line leaking about 1 foot outside the lip of of the emergency drain pan. The pipe is wrapped in black rubber insulation and the water was coming out from a joint in the insulation... so I couldn't really tell exactly where the pipe was fractured. I immediately shut off the unit and began soaking up the water in the attic and below with towels etc. If I had to guess, I would say that it had been leaking only an hour or two.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the condensation drain pipe was tightly lashed to the end of one of the threaded rods used to suspend the unit from the attic ceiling. The jagged end of the rod was poking into the insulation and had worn a hole through to the PVC pipe. I couldn't see a hole in the pipe and did not want to remove the insulation before the contractor had a chance to see it.
When the contractor arrived today (Monday), I watched him cut the insulation from the pipe only to reveal that the first section of PVC pipe had come completely out of the first angle joint. The pipe end was stained purple with PVC primer but there was no sign of any glue to be found. So, I'm assuming that somebody forgot to glue the joint and it had been held together by friction alone up until now! All he said was, "I've never seen anything like that."
The contractor proceeded to re-glue the pipe and angle and re-wrap the assembly with insulation. Now comes the good part... he explained what he'd done to fix it and then said, "I'll go write up an invoice for today". I had all I could do to keep my cool and calmly explain that I felt that this was a "workmanship" issue, not a faulty materials issue, and did he not feel that he should warranty his workmanship. To which he replied, "Well, yes, but not the labor for today". I then calmly explained that if I had not found the leak as early as I did that he would be speaking to my insurance adjuster or lawyer instead of me right now. He then agreed that there would be no charge for the less-than-one-hour visit. I only wish my heart rate would have returned to normal in a similar time frame.
My new home is now just over 2 years old so I'm thinking WT.... what else is going to happen?:eek:
