As I mentioned in another thread, my friend is putting in a water source heat pump system in his large house. He has talked to 3 or 4 different contractors, all of whom recommend Water Furnace brand components. I get the sense that few of these contractors have significant experience with these systems, so they are all going to the one-stop shop at Water Furnace. I don't think we are getting the full picture.

Does anyone here know of any geothermal experts in the Mid-Atlantic region? This job is in Loudoun County, Virginia, but is probably large enough to justify having a contractor travel, especially given the number of contractors looking for work these days.

May I piggy-back onto this? I would be interested in knowing the calculations for volume of water required and the heat exchange rates--I may be building a garage, and geo thermal would be nice.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

The thing I would be concerned about is the type of water used to run throught the heat pump. An open loop works best if you have a creek or pond to dump in and are on a well. the well pump will need to be oversizes to do this.

A closed loop can be dicey if the loop is not big enough. The bigger the loop the more cost. The deeper its buried the more it costs. The vertical shafts can be dicey as well if they are too close together.

I did some about 20 years ago. They worked then and probbably will work now as well if Natural gas is not available. If gas is available they don't pencil out. If you are in the city they don't pencil out....since you won't already have a well, nor the space for a horizontal loop and probably not room for enough vertical loops either.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.