Quote:
Originally Posted by SickMPGs
Hi
I always knew a 98 Corolla got 40+ mpgs. You have my deepest sympathy. but dont feel bad. There are so many people out there that get even worse mpgs than you. Before I worked the kinks out of my GreaseCar I was getting only 50-60 mpgs, diesel. Now with shorter switch over time, shorter pruge times, longer distances and summer temps (w/o one-tanking or blending) I'm getting 128 MPG, diesel. That means driving 2000+ miles before seeing a gas station and not even getting to the OEM reserve tank. 
Did you price out Geothermal? Do you have the right soil? Wind? You must be on the side of a mountain or water front for that to work. If you have one of these prime locations then you got the buck to tack on the project. I was thinking for blending or making biodiesel for oil heat. Just worried about loosing heat on a cold night. My wife wouldnt leave the house w/o taking a shower first so she would probbly die first. These oil prices are killing us too. |
I'd probably be getting better mpg if it was running right and I didn't still have snow tires on!
I've been trying to read up on geothermal to find out all I can. From what I understand you can have a whole drilled down 100-200 feet or more similar to a well, run some tubing down to pump water down then back up, and fill it with grout. Then you just take the constant temp of the ground to heat or cool the water pumped through the tube. Apparently there are also heat pumps that can take the water from 40-50F to 140F by compressing it. I haven't talked to anyone that actually installs these system to verify it, but getting water hot enough to heat the house and fresh water supply without oil intrigues me!
Especially if all they have to do is drill a well, drop some tube, and fill it. (Not including the mechanical equipment) Seems relatively simple and wouldn't require tearing up the entire yard. And the way oil prices are even if it cost $10,000 it would be paid for in less than 5.