Cohousing-L Mailing List: More on Geothermal

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

More information on geothermal from one of our residents who worked on  
the planning of our system:

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The best place that I know to learn about Geothermal (or "Ground  
Source") Heat Pumps
is http://www.geoexchange.com/ and they have handy tools for finding
certified, recommended engineers and installation companies.

If you have the opportunity to install the ground loops (say, under a  
piece
of undeveloped land) then you should give Geothermal some strong
consideration.  Compared to electric heat, the system is something  
like five
times more efficient -- that is, five times more heating of a home is
produced for one unit of electricity consumed.  For cooling, the  
efficiency
advantage is less but still significant because you are rejecting the  
heat
from your home to a much cooler reservoir (the 55-degree earth)  
compared to
the reservoir of a conventional air conditioner (the air at, lets say,  
90
degrees.)  For your specific site, you'll be discussing heating-degree  
days
and cooling-degree-days with your engineer, but the upshot can be  
remarkably
lower electric bills and proportionately lower environmental impacts.
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Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing,Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org