Geothermal savings
Published Sunday, February 24, 2008
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Stumble It!Feb. 18, 2008
To the editor:
Last summer, because of my ever increasing annual cost of No. 2 fuel is now between $2,500 and $3,000 per year, I installed a heat pump to suck the geothermal heat out of the ground and use it to heat my house at a cost estimated to be near $500.
When it was 30 below, the heat pump cost $2.52 for the day. If I had used oil, at $3.50 a gallon, the day’s operating cost would have been $10.50, or 4.1 times the cost of the heat pump’s electricity.
Tracking actual expenses from Nov. 10, 2007 to Feb. 18, the fuel pump cost $229.29 — so that $500 estimate may be a bit high.
The equivalent cost of fuel oil at $3.50 gal. would have been $983.50.
Comparing our $.17 Kwh with Anchorage’s $.09 Kwh rate, the cost of oil is nearly eight times more expensive than the cost of electricity to run a heat pump.
For fuel oil delivered in Fairbanks to be cost comparable with a heat pump, it would need to sell at less than one-fourth the current price of $3.50, ($.87 per gallon). In Anchorage, because of the lower $.09 Kwh rate it would need to be priced at $.44 per gallon.
Nearly the same cost reduction ratios apply to natural gas. The cost of which is about equal to fuel oil at $2.80 per gallon.
Why is the heat pump’s operating cost is so much lower than fuel oil or gas?
First, improved heat pump efficiency when extracting heat from a 45 degree to 22 degree source. In other words, you buy 1 Kwh and get the heating value of 6 Kwh(s) free. Second, when burning oil or gas, poor efficiency results in at least $15 out of every $100 spent going up the chimney.
Here in Fairbanks, many residential, industrial and public property owners have beneath them flowing warm water whose heat could be used to heat their buildings at one-fourth to one-third of current costs by installing a heat pump.
Community Discussion
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That sounds amazing! Do you have more links or details on where in Fairbanks this might be possible, drilling needs, etc.?
Would be nice to have but I just checked my pocket and don't have 11 to 16,000 or more dollars lying around to put one in place...
The initial cost of a geothermal heat pump system varies greatly according to local labor rates, lot geology and size, type of system installed, and equipment selected. So, GHP systems are more costly to install than air source heat pumps. For either system, the cost of installed ducts should be identical. Equipment costs can be 50-100% more expensive for a geothermal heat pump system when the circulating pump, indoor tubing, and water source heat pump are considered. This 50-100% premium translates to $1,000 - $2,000 for the equipment that supplies a 3-ton system.
The ground loop is generally the most expensive component of a geothermal heat pump system and is highly dependent on local labor rates and drilling conditions. An installed ground loop stubbed out in a home can cost between $1,000 and $3,000 per installed ton. Overall, one could expect to pay between $4,000 and $11,000 more for a 3-ton GHP system than for an air source heat pump system.
The above information relates to lower 48 estimates..
Having serviced and installed air over, water/ground source heat pumps commercially and residentially in the lower48 I’d have to say to user6244 you may be understating the potential disadvantages and costs associated w/heat pumps up here in the Interior.
To the Author, one or two years of trouble free runtime is no selling point, after 5 or 10 years of trouble free operation then I personally would applaud your system! Your system might end up being a Great example; I would like to see the setup myself.
Ground Source installation in part of Midwest at least was a very hard sell without being subsidized or with promises from a local utility to help pay for installation ,lower electric rates. This is due to very high installation costs as user6244 mentions along with long payback time. If natural gas was available, ground source was not an cost effective option in Midwest unless the utilities jumped with incredible deals.
On the maintenance/service end, Ground Source heat pumps in general can be quite the headache; which means to the end user big dollars in maintenance costs. Many times the problem was poor equipment selection, design and installation. I have personally seen customers request their fairly new GSHP get ripped out in the Midwest, and replaced with what they knew did work effectively. Unfortunately, too often this was due to technicians not having GSHP training and again design/installation issues. A well designed and properly installed and serviced GSHP system could be very reliable and cost effective.
Then there is current availability of major/minor components up here from your manufacturer up here and who has experience servicing?
Enough of the nay saying, there could be a case for Geothermal/Ground source heat pumps residentially in the Interior:
Properly designed and installed (Alaskan Interior/Geological/Arctic conditions considered) ground source HP’s could make quite a bit cost effective sense in new construction, if we had GVEA or the government help pay for install. On a case by case basis, retrofits to older homes mechanical systems could be a great idea too.
There needs to be local accountability, in other words no lower 48’s doing the selling/installation/jobs cheapest and bailing out on us.
If there is a 10+ year bumper to bumper warranty on system, with several local service having trained technicians in GSHP’s.
Green and clean, to some that’s enough.
You get air-conditioning, newer tight homes certainly would benefit. Nice option for older homes too nowadays.
Hi JIm,
I'm glad to see you're still working hard at developing distributed energy resources
and exploring how they fit into the politics of our economic system.
Coert
Another low cost option is a wood or coal fired boiler. There are many new option with efficiencies approaching 90%. I have a Greenwood wood boiler that heats my entire house and hot water. I can have wood delivered for an equivalent cost to heating oil of $1/g. while the wood that I get myself is free. So far this winter I have burned 6 cords of wood and saved 800 gallons of heating oil. It's not for everyone but it sure works for me. North Pole gravel is also selling coal and coal fired boilers. The cost per BTU is still about $1/g. compared to heating oil.
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