ground-source heat pump Archives

Geothermal is too expensive, can Dig Energy help?

I ran across this article on Tech Crunch regarding a moderately new startup in the geothermal (GSHP) heat pump industry sector. Dig Energy is attempting to revolutionize the loop installation aspect of the geothermal heat pump industry.
Dig Energy is also highlighted in this Interesting Engineering article.

As stated in the Tech Crunch article, our industry has been around for over 40 years and continues to stay at or below 1% of the air conditioning market in North America. While there are some similarities to the conventional HVAC market, i.e. a unitary piece of AC equipment and ductwork and/or radiant floor piping; the loop installation stands out as the portion that makes HVAC contractors cringe. Most have no idea how to address that portion of the installation and in many markets there simply aren’t enough specialized geo drillers or geo drilling capacity to handle the potential need. The lack of ease of installation as well as the additional cost has hindered the market since it’s inception. In markets where horizontal loop installations are easily accomplished with trenchers or backhoes, the industry has a much higher impact on the overall HVAC market.

Horizontal Slinky Loop

A small, easily transportable drilling system that could manage 250-300′ geo bores with the sizing to accommodate 1″ u-bends could change the industry, assuming installation costs were moderately reasonable.

While easily accessible drilling would make a substantial impact, the cost of geo equipment has increased over the past 20 years at a much higher rate than conventional air conditioning equipment and is another factor that cannot be easily remedied. An additional factor that impacts our industry going forward is the recent announcement of the elimination of the Federal Geo Tax Credit.

If Dig Energy can successfully implement a lower cost, easily accessible and easily transported geo drilling system, the industry could see another revolutionary period of increased sales. Those of us who have been around for over 30 years would love to see it happen.

Credit to Tim De Chant

Credit to Sujita Sinha

Whisper Valley, Austin, Texas

Most press for our industry is inconsistent and at worst, completely incorrect.

This article about Whisper Valley in Austin, Texas falls mostly into the latter category and is EXTREMELY misleading. The article states that if your home’s ground-source heat pump stops working, you will still be able to get cooling from the “GeoGrid”. This is absolutely false, if your system is not operational you will not be able to cool your home. If you’re planning to purchase in Whisper Valley, be aware that your individual ground-source heat pump is for your home and your home alone. At no point can the “GeoGrid” replace your cooling system, nor can you tap into your neighbors cooling system.

“Because the homes all share this GeoGrid, residents don’t have to worry about being without air conditioning even if their personal system goes down — they can just tap into the grid. If a home needs more heating or cooling than its individual system can provide, it can get that from the GeoGrid, too.”

The article goes on to state that you can get additional cooling capacity from the “GeoGrid”, that is also false. While it does give the benefit of additional ground-loop capacity, you are still limited to the capacity of the ground-source heat pump installed in your home. If you have a 4-ton system, you still have a 4-ton system. You may be able to improve your overall capacity and EER slightly due to better loop temps but your 4-ton system won’t magically become a 5-ton system.

Here’s the complete article link.

GeoGrid: Texas geothermal helps cut energy bills to $1 per mo. – Big Think