Geothermal Heating Help

Geothermal training in Mitchell SD

James Schenck — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:09:35 +0000

This was a geothermal training in Mitchell South Dakota put on by Energy Dynamics. Trainings like these help grow the industry and improve installations. Perhaps even better than the official training is the chance for all these industry professionals to share their experiences. These professional geothermal installers are mostly from South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. Contact Energy Dynamics at 1-800-444-8583 if you need to find a professional in those regions. Following the training we will be touring the Enertech manufacturing facility. Pics of that will follow if I remember to take them.

Interior PVC loop manifold

James Schenck — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:58:49 +0000

This installation is on the Ft. Peck reservation in Montana and was completed by a newly trained team of local Native Americans. Tribal lands are becoming a growing part of the geothermal industry and we (Energy Dynamics) are proud to be supporting these installations.

Another sneak preview.

James Schenck — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 23:37:00 +0000

This is a screen shot from a data logger that has been monitoring the performance of our highly unusual installation in southern Wyoming. We are still not ready to fully disclose all the details of this systems but we will soon. The performance thus far has been nothing short of dramatic. More details will follow in the following weeks.

Clean install on a big system.

James Schenck — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:29:21 +0000

Here is a photo of an installation that is in progress. This is a very clean layout and all the control wiring is hidden behind the wall. This system is using the variable speed Grundfos Alpha circulators. (Only one pictured) These circulators have pressure sensors and will vary their speed in order to maintain a constant pressure in the distribution system. This allows a single circulator to serve many zones as it is able to speed up or slow down depending on the demand. A total of 24 tons of heat pump are being used in this home. It is a closed loop vertical system. The heat pumps are Hydron Module. An HBX control system stages the heat pumps and rotates the lead units. A propane boiler is available for backup and for domestic hot water heat. This project is being done by Campbells Plumbing and Heating, Belgrade MT. 406-388-6554.

Sneak peek pic

James Schenck — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:07:06 +0000

Just what are we doing with this giant tank? This photo represents a system I have been working on developing for over four years and I am super excited to be able to share it with everyone soon. I have had tons of help and support from too many people to list here right now but this never could have happened without their support. Stay tuned for all the project details and the first couple months of this systems performance!

Pre-built zone panel

James Schenck — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:45:11 +0000

This is a photo of a pre-built boiler zoning panel that was done in Aquatherm. I wish this photo was better because this was a very impressive piping solution done by my old boss Scott. Scott would pre build these systems at his shop and we could then take the whole thing to the job site and simply pipe to and from it. It saved tons of time and it was a much cleaner installation when these pre-built panels were used. It also allowed Scott to accomplish the technical and design portions of the zoning and boiler piping at the shop. The field installers like me didn’t have to think much about how it was all supposed to work, we could just hang this on the mechanical room wall and connect the zone mains and boiler piping to it. Scott now works for Manhattan Plumbing and Heating in Manhattan MT.

Small details from an experienced installer

James Schenck — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:58:45 +0000

This is a picture of the transition piping from a hose kit to PVC pipe. The hose kits that are provided or ordered with many geothermal heat pumps allow the installer to quickly attach the flow center or pump pack to the heat pump connections. When the distance from the heat pump and the flow center requires more piping a transition is needed. If a female PVC fitting is directly attached to the male brass threads from the hose kit is is very likely that you will split the female fitting when tightening it. Sometimes the fitting holds when tightening but later develops a crack. To establish a more robust piping transition a brass coupling was used. This allowed the connection to be a male PVC fitting threaded into a female brass fitting and then male PVC into female PVC. This is a great example of an often overlooked detail that separates the experienced installers from the pack. Thanks to NED enterprises of Bridger Montana for this example of professionalism.

Interior geothermal loop manifold and non-pressurized flow center

James Schenck — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:37:31 +0000

Pictured is a seven ton geothermal loop field manifold. Each of the loop ends have been brought into the crawl space of the home and manifolded using pre-build manifolds with all-preen fittings. There are several benefits to manifolding inside the structure. One is that because the fittings are not buried in the ground they do not have to be fused fittings. Two is that each of the loops has a ball valve and this allows them to be purged of air individually. Thirdly, the ability to access each loop individually allows for isolation of a bad loop if needed and the ability to test for a non flowing loop. Also pictured is a four pump QT non-pressurized flow center. This flow center is what circulates the fluid through the heat pumps and the earth loop. Non-pressurized flow centers eliminate many of the air removal issues associated with pressurized pump packs.

Cody Wyoming Geothermal System

James Schenck — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:49:41 +0000

Pictured is a GeoComfort 3 ton water to water unit, a four ton GeoComfort split unit and an HSS hydronic Buffer tank. This installation is on a closed loop horizontal slinky loop field. There are seven loops of 800′ 3/4″ pipe in the loop field. The home has 11 zones of radiant heat and has forced air distribution in all areas of the home also. This is a geothermal system in Cody Wyoming. The installation was done by NED Enterprises with offices in Bridger and Red Lodge Montana.

Do not mount circulators like this

James Schenck — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:03:18 +0000

Here is a photo of a poor installation. The circulator is mounted on the ceiling on the highest point of the system and it is mounted upside down. A person could not build a system more likely to air lock if they set out to do so. There were numerous other problems with this installation that required some significant re-do but it is in good operational condition today.