The danger of saving energy

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Fingie

Wonder if I should invest into geothermal heat, or whatever it's called in English.

That's what it's called in English, and you have better mastery of the language than most native speakers.

I'm very interested in a geothermal heat pump too, but even more scared about a break in the line. My friend has had 2 breaks in his water main and 2 breaks in his irrigation in the 3 years he has owned his house. It was very labor and time consuming to locate and fix these breaks, and I'd hate to think how impossible it is to fix a break in a line that is 10 times longer, and buried deeper.

For a small house, I don't think it makes sense to install such an expensive heating solution.

I'd be more comfortable installing a geo heat solution on the bottom of a pond so that breaks could be repaired relatively easily. Then again, breaks would probably be more likely too.

[rmay635703]

Super insulation is the cheapest (low hanging fruit)
Followed by more advanced methods

[Frank Lee]

I use microzone heating- just the spot I'm in, for the most part.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I use microzone heating- just the spot I'm in, for the most part.

Heat the person and the pipes, agree fully.

I'm always amazed by the people that have their heat on in September, this oddball year mine might not go on till late November/ early December

[redpoint5]

I have roommates and a wife; spot heating isn't going to work.

Someday I'd like to build an infrared heater that can track my location in a room and turn off when I'm not in it. Seems like the perfect solution except I would need one of these heaters in every occupied room.

[roosterk0031]

I'm going to start switching over to mini-split air cooled heat pumps. Not as energy efficient as ground source. But cheaper and easier to install, repair, replace. Can easily reduce my AC electricity use by 1/2, my current AC is/was rated 13 seer 20 years ago. 26 seer is pretty easy to find and inverse of 26/13 = half the electricity, 30+ are available and would take it down to 43%. Planning on 3 or 4 so will have build in redundancy if one quits still have heat or cooling.

[ksa8907]

Has anyone already or thought about making a solar heated absorbtion chiller?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Fingie

Wonder if I should invest into geothermal heat, or whatever it's called in English.

I think you probably mean a ground-source heat pump, not a true geothermal system. (Though they're often miscalled geothermal heating by merchants trying to take advantage of public ignorance.) A geothermal system works on actual hot water (or rock), such as a hot spring, which I don't think you're likely to find in Finland. (At least I don't recall seeing any.)

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I think you probably mean a ground-source heat pump, not a true geothermal system. (Though they're often miscalled geothermal heating by merchants trying to take advantage of public ignorance.) A geothermal system works on actual hot water (or rock), such as a hot spring, which I don't think you're likely to find in Finland. (At least I don't recall seeing any.)

Fingie is not misusing the term, although ground-sourced heat pump is more specific. It's like the difference between saying "solar energy" and "photo-voltaic electricity"

Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth. It's clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma.

[MJamson]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I think you probably mean a ground-source heat pump, not a true geothermal system. (Though they're often miscalled geothermal heating by merchants trying to take advantage of public ignorance.) A geothermal system works on actual hot water (or rock), such as a hot spring, which I don't think you're likely to find in Finland. (At least I don't recall seeing any.)

There are a number of different systems like this in Sweden, as I don't really know the names I'll write a short description


Drill a hole about 200m deep into the ground, pump water down to the bottom and warm water comes back up.


Lay a pipe (1 km or so) a meter or so under the ground, and pump water through it.


Lay a pipe (1km or so) along the bottom of a lake and pump water through it.

There is a forth system where a hole is drilled and then instead of water, air is blown down into the hole and the air comming back out is warmed.

I suppose that the best place is find true Geothermal heating is on Iceland, but then it comes at the price of being a little smelly.