Heat pumps are getting a lot more traction as people are trying to be green and lower their carbon footprint.  2012 brings us a couple of examples of jobs that are just in the early stages.

Milpitas Geothermal: In January we were contacted by home owners in Milpitas that has 2 homes clustered together and they want geothermal installed to lower their carbon footprint.

They were early adaptors of solar electric systems. Now they have progressed to replacing the gas furnaces with the Earthlinked geothermal heat pumps.  Since this is a typical small suburban California lot the earth loops are going to be installed below the present driveways.  For this homeowner these will be conventional vertical loops.  Since these clustered homes are different sizes the one home will get a 3 ton system and the other a 4 ton system.

Geothermal requires drilling into the earth’s surface to tap into the earth’s heat for the ground sourced heat pump to do its intended job. In cases with small lots like this one it may mean that the surrounding landscaping or even paved areas may need to be dug up to get the geothermal system installed. This is all able to be reconstructed after the installation.

It is interesting to note that this couple is also considering installing an underground tank for rainwater harvesting. They have really embraced the green movement.

Santa Cruz Mountains Geothermal:  At about the same time a resident on Skyline Road in the Santa Cruz Mountains called us for help in planning a geothermal system at his home.  The motivation is a little stronger here because the home is currently served by propane for their heat source and that can be fairly expensive for home heating.

This home also has a solar electric system installed.  Recently this home had a rainwater harvesting system installed.  The storage capacity is a whopping 11,500 gallons spread over 4 tanks.

This is a 3,000 square foot home and we are planning a 5 ton Earthlinked (geothermal) ground source heat pump. We intend to leave the existing Carrier Infinity 95% efficient furnace in place to work with the heat pump as a hybrid (or dual fuel) heating system.

Cold Craft, Inc. also suggested a solar thermal system to generate hot water.  Since this area has fog some of the year two: 4X10 panels were selected.

Both of these customers are finding the 30% tax credit (with no limit) very attractive for geothermal.

Read the following article by John Tomczyk about geothermal and it is instrumental in better understanding how these systems work.

https://www.earthlinked.com/files/downloads/documents/Articles/NEWS_11-21…

Geothermal heating is a fairly involved process and an investment.  For more information about the process and a free estimate for those that qualify, please give us a call to learn more at (408) 374-7292.

 

If you need help with temperature, contact Cold Craft, Inc.

408.374.7292 or [email protected]