Geo thermal closed loop system question?

Question

Not sure I will get an answer here on yahoo, but won't know unless I try.

My geothermal system is not worth a crap in the summer, in the winter it is amazing. I have had it checked by two different techs. The first guy said everything was fine and that she was giving all she has. Neither one could tell the tonnage, so it may just be that it is not enough tonnage for my 2250 sf house.

The second tech seemed to have a theory that made a lot of sense. Since the temperature difference in the water leaving the unit and the water coming back in was only about 7 degrees, he thinks that the closed loop is too short. It was installed in 95, and he states that some of the early systems had design errors made by the engineers. In other words, he states that the loop is probably not long enough to appropratly transfer the heat. I think he is correct.

My question is this.

Is there anything I can add to the return line that would further cool the return water? a radiator? etc.

Thanks for the answers so far.

Unfortunately, I can not just dig it up. I don't have the schematics and not sure if it is a horizontal or vertical loop. It is also under my foundation and then goes, well, who knows. I suppose the right person could dig a deeper hole if it is vertical loop.

As for the auxillary heaters, it has none. And I have had zero problems in the winter, no matter how cold it gets outside, you don't even feel any hot air, the house is just warm all over evenly. And bill is about 75 bucks. The summer bill has been as high as 350 because the thing does not cycle.

I have added two attic fans, but neither helped. Insulation seems fine, but will probably work on that as well. Will be tinting windows as well. Anything I can do to keep from spending 6-8 grand to replace the system.

Thanks again.

Answer 1

Don't underestimate your window's day job. They are solar heaters. A south facing window has nothing on a cold Winter, but in the Summer it can rage as the daylight hours are considerably longer. This is a math thing. (not my forte', but I'm sure you can figure this out.) The figures are all there for you. Average winter temps, (I could be more helpful if I knew what zone you lived in) crossed with the average geothermic temp of what? About 54* (not exactly sure about that, but I'm close.)
Let me just sum it up. The system has to work a LOT harder when it is working against longer daylight hours and a lot of windows. So it sounds like it was not designed as well for Summer as it was for Winter. A rough guess? Increase the length of the line by about 33%. I couldn't do the math, but I'm a good guesser. You get the gist of it.
Back to your original question, Can you add anything to help. Honestly, I know almost nothing about geothermal systems or how they are set up. I just saw that you had a problem and I know a few numbers and have my share of common sense. But I would have to guess that your best route would be to add to length to the line if possible.
Another thought? Get a pool. A good size above ground pool like an Easy Set. The biggest is 15ft across by about 4 ft deep. About $300. Run the line through the pool in the Summer. The house will heat the pool while the pool cools your house. This has been done and it works. Best I can give ya. Good luck.

Answer 2

The reason you might think it works so good in the winter is because it probably has an electric heat back up. It work together with the heat pump to warm your home on extremely cold days. Your heat pump might not be working as good as you think in the winter. It just has help from the bak up heaters. You only notice it's lack of cooling in the summer because there is no back up air conditioner.

If it is cooling at all then it will not be the reversing valve. If it doesn't cool at all then it probably is the reversing valve.

Your condenser is water cooled in the summer and rejects heat in to the water. In the winter your evaporator picks up heat from the water, by reversing the flow of refrigerant, and your condenser rejects it into your home. It is possible that your loop is too small for a super hot day, but you would think that it is also too small on a very cold day. And it probably would not heat your home without the help of the electric duct back up heaters. They also come on in the event that your heat pump would fail as emergency heat.

It's possible to cut in to the line and add some kind of evaporative cooler, but you would then have to spray water on it and it would be best to have some kind of fan blowing over it. It would work if installed and sized properly, but you would need to isolate it in the winter and make sure that the coolant in the loop has enough antifreeze that it doesn't freeze. It's possible to even buy something like that. Its kind of like a "swamp cooler" or a cooling tower.

Answer 3

Dig it up and redo it. My daughter is having one put in now by her son, an air-conditioning expert in the field. His hole is eight feet deep and goes to one end of a forty acre field and, eight feet across.
His is about the same and they work perfect.

A radiator would of course change the temperature but, by how much and, is it worth it. I have no idea, this is so new and there's little on it right now. I think everyone going into it are pioneers and whatever works, works.

If you can get a man to work out the radiator out put and intake and do the math, maybe it would work. After all the cost and work, I would add a bank of radiators and see what happens.

Answer 4

no longer lots recommendations, yet right here is what I tell maximum with this variety of request. the cost of setting up is quite high priced. you need to have a lower back up sort of warmth. in case you install a regularly occurring variety of warmth, you have no longer have been given those issues. One service call on the geothermal unit ruins the cost discounts. undemanding saves money. How eco-friendly is that?