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Hey Mikey,
I just checked July's A/C usage from the Ecobee thermostat and it was 282 hours. We just got the highest electric bill that we've had since putting in the unit nearly 4 years ago ($227.00 - It's been really hot and we had family here for a few days), so this is a good time to check how much the little Grundfos circulator pump is costing us to run. It is a 3-speed pump that I run on low speed. At that speed it draws 60 watts per the nameplate. When I do the calculation for 282 hours, 60 watts and about 12 cents a kilowatt hour, I come up with $2.03, so it really is cheap to run. I have a little controller on the circulator pump that shuts it off when the temperature of the water coming out of the bottom of the tank going to the pump reaches 130 degrees. It has a handy display on it that shows the water temperature (using a little probe that I strapped to the line from the bottom of the water heater). I chose this temperature because I found that I could never get the temperature to go above 130 degrees in the tank when using the desuperheater. I didn't want to be in the situation of the water heater elements actually adding heat to the desuperheater if they were both running at the same time --- like in the cooler months when the desuperheater can't quite keep up with the demand and I have to turn the water heater back on. I realize that this should never happen because the thermostats in the water heater are set to 120, but I liked the idea of the display anyway. Of course the correct way to do this would be to set up a differential controller that would compare the input temperature of the desuperheater to the output and shut off the pump if the output was ever less that the input. But what I did was quick and dirty and seems to work fine. I would love to have a preheater tank like you have. That is definitely the way to go! But there is no room in the garage for one. As it is, the main tank is only 40 gallons and just fits where it is.
On another note, I was given a variable speed 2 hp Hayward pool pump with a bad motor. I can get a new motor for 400 bucks or so. When I lived in Miami I used to use the 3/4 hp pool pump down there to pump water from the well to fill the pool with no issues, so I suspect that I would not have any issues using this pump to pump water through the geo unit, but I would have to be able to do it using less than the 5.3 amps or so that the current 3/4 hp pump draws. If I could save half a kilowatt or so, that would be about $17.00/month this time of year. I wonder if anyone has tried this? I know the submerged pump would be the way to go, but I would hate to go to the expense of putting in a whole new well. I have no idea how much that would even cost ...
Originally Posted by Poodle Head Mikey
Regular Guest
I'm not able to follow your analysis, but people who specialize in GSHPs and who have measured desuperheater performance say the only way to get significant value out of a desuperheater is to pipe it into an unpowered buffer tank that feeds a powered water heater. That's how mine is set up. Most GSHPs will also monitor the water temp and will only circulate water through the HX when operating conditions warrant it.
Regular Guest
Nice stuff about the Tanks - are those Stainless Steel Tanks , or Lined ?
Also the Water Temps You Mentioned from Shallow Source , what are they in Winter ?
DIY - Wells are Very Easy in Florida ~ Yes Submersible would be Cooler , Issue with Motors Being Rebuilt as Most of those @ Least on Submersibles are Part of the Check Ball System ..
Which are Connected Straight to all 7 Stages .. Currently Runs approx 3 Min. to Top Up 50 Gallon to 70 PSI with Hose Running ..then it takes 5 Min. It will Kick back on @ 52 Psi ..
( Just to State Run Times ) 5-7 Gallons per Min. @ 62 Degrees Water Temp . .after going 60 ft Travel @ Only 2.5ft Below Surface . . // In Winter Street Water ( Town ) is 40 Degrees Well Holds around 54 Degrees @ 60ft Travel .
( More Important would be Cool Well Water ) on DIY WELL : https://youtu.be/d6fBjKCGjQM
Regular Guest
This much better Example of Well be done Correctly - DIY with - Pump & Water . .
https://youtu.be/fE4QSUXS-j4
Regular Guest
Wow! Wish we had water temps that cool! Down here the water temp out of the well is about 82 degrees most of the time. You can imagine how well that works for heating, but we rarely need that. Everyone I know who has a well down here uses it for the sprinklers. We have that too. We have a 1-1/2 horsepower pump for that and can actually run both pumps off the same well at the same time with no problem. I wouldn't mind having a new well dug because of the rust-colored stains we have on the fence and wherever else the water hits. I had also thought about doing it because I figured maybe the water would be cooler for the geo unit with a deeper well, but I seem to recall it didn't make much difference down here. I'll probably just leave that as is for now, although I have heard that after many years the well pipe can go bad --- and this one is 56 years old. We'll see ...
Regular Guest
OK, just Add some Help , Wife's Dad has Property in Florida with Two Wells and Both will do Stains Your Talking about , only one has better water . Yet the Near by Their Well is only 24 ft Farther East and has Better Water with NO Staining ..
So Maybe it has something to do with Old Well Pipe .. also .. Food for Thought . . Our Ground Water - sometimes Depending on Amount of Rain up in Mountains - only 5 Miles away will
Pressurize the Wells , a Near By Actually had His Well Over Flow - Last Year . . ( Hence 1 Reason water is Cooler )
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