Home » Design » Geothermal Engineer vs. Geothermal Installer

Geothermal Engineer vs. Geothermal Installer

Posted by Taylor Hendricksen on Jan 16, 2012 in Design | 0 comments

Geothermal Engineers vs. Geothermal Installers: A conflict of professionals.

On many projects there is a clear need and or requirement that a professional engineer produce the mechanical system design. On other projects including most residential systems it is more common that the installer produce the design and do the install.

Large custom homes that have a more involved mechanical systems than standard residential systems but not quite the level of commercial projects fall into a grey area.

Do you need an engineer to design the system or can the local installer do both the system design and it’s installation?

It depends on who you ask. The engineer would tell you that it is essential that you hire them to ensure proper system operation. The installer would probably tell you that it would be a waste of money to hire the engineer and that they are perfectly capable of the design.

For those of you that don’t already know this, engineers and installers don’t often play well together.

I will generalize the basic conflict.

Geothermal Engineers think installers have no business designing things. They feel that installers just need to follow the plans as they are drawn and not try to reinvent the design. Engineers, as they like to point out, have initials after their name and are on record as being responsible for the project.

Geothermal Installers have to build whatever the engineer designed are always finding things that are wrong or outdated and will want to change aspects of it.

In order for a project to not turn into a circus it will be important that someone is in charge. If an installer has enough experience and is comfortable with doing the design I say let them do the design. If the project manager decides to go with an engineer on the design then they should choose one that can work with the input of the installer. Also, the engineer should have specific experience with geothermal systems and the efficiencies that exist in the modern heating and cooling industry.

I have seen lots of engineered systems that totally ignore the advanced solutions that are well known to installers that keep up with the best industry practices. It’s not that the engineers design would not have worked, it is that the design that the installer might produce might be a more efficient system. If the installer sees things that could be improved with the design it would be best if the engineer would consider them.

Unfortunately what often occurs when changes are suggested is that egos get in the way of the best solution. Engineers don’t want to be told how to do their jobs and installers don’t want to put something into service when they believe there is a better way.

I suppose the best situation would be to find a geothermal installer that is also a geothermal engineer.