Comments on: How to heat your house with cold water (and a little electricity) http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/ re-inventing the User eXperience Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:01:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Heat Pumps to Reduce Your Energy Costs | SensoryMetrics http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/comment-page-1/#comment-60113 Heat Pumps to Reduce Your Energy Costs | SensoryMetrics Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:37:48 +0000 http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/#comment-60113 [...] If the water going into a heat pump is above freezing*, the heat pump can suck degrees out of the water and convert that energy into hot air or hot water.  This hot air or hot water can then be used to keep your house warm.  These units work by adding a small amount of heat over a longer period of time compared to a gas or oil furnace.  So, if you opened your front door long enough in the middle of winter and the house temperature dropped suddenly, a back up electrical heater kicks in to quickly raise the temperature.  Of course, this costs more money to run and you want to avoid that sort of thing.  In my experience, the electric backup heater only kicked on once or twice for about half an hour during a winter season.  Overall, I’d say the heat pump furnace probably reduced my electricity bill by more than half.  More details about the residential geothermal heat pump experience. [...] [...] If the water going into a heat pump is above freezing*, the heat pump can suck degrees out of the water and convert that energy into hot air or hot water.  This hot air or hot water can then be used to keep your house warm.  These units work by adding a small amount of heat over a longer period of time compared to a gas or oil furnace.  So, if you opened your front door long enough in the middle of winter and the house temperature dropped suddenly, a back up electrical heater kicks in to quickly raise the temperature.  Of course, this costs more money to run and you want to avoid that sort of thing.  In my experience, the electric backup heater only kicked on once or twice for about half an hour during a winter season.  Overall, I’d say the heat pump furnace probably reduced my electricity bill by more than half.  More details about the residential geothermal heat pump experience. [...]

]]> By: Tammy http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/comment-page-1/#comment-46090 Tammy Sun, 06 Jan 2008 07:23:09 +0000 http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/#comment-46090 Thanks for this post. I've been thinking that there must be better heating solutions that can reduce our carbon footprint on the environment. I'm going to look into installing such a furnace in our home. Thanks for this post. I’ve been thinking that there must be better heating solutions that can reduce our carbon footprint on the environment. I’m going to look into installing such a furnace in our home.

]]> By: Keetsa! Blog - Eco-Friendly and Green » Blog Archive » Home heating from water http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/comment-page-1/#comment-23495 Keetsa! Blog - Eco-Friendly and Green » Blog Archive » Home heating from water Sat, 04 Aug 2007 13:22:43 +0000 http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/#comment-23495 [...] Source [Sensor Metrics] All Natural, alternative energy, Eco Friendly, Geothermal, geothermal energy, home and garden, pipes, plain waterAll Natural, alternative energy, Eco Friendly, Geothermal, geothermal energy, home and garden, pipes, plain water TrackBack | Suggest A Site | View blog reactions [...] [...] Source [Sensor Metrics] All Natural, alternative energy, Eco Friendly, Geothermal, geothermal energy, home and garden, pipes, plain waterAll Natural, alternative energy, Eco Friendly, Geothermal, geothermal energy, home and garden, pipes, plain water TrackBack | Suggest A Site | View blog reactions [...]

]]> By: Mitch Brisebois http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/comment-page-1/#comment-22042 Mitch Brisebois Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:21:37 +0000 http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/#comment-22042 Yeah, Peter - don't start drilling downtown, you might hit an oil pipeline! Yeah, Peter – don’t start drilling downtown, you might hit an oil pipeline!

]]> By: Peter Childs http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/comment-page-1/#comment-22030 Peter Childs Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:48:12 +0000 http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/07/21/how-to-heat-your-house-with-cold-water-and-a-little-electricity/#comment-22030 Ground source is definately the way to go - and closed loop if you have the space. My parents (open loop) and brother (return well) have used them since the early 90'sboth have total energy bills less than 1K/year. My brother very much less because he also super insulated and designed for passive solar. The only drawback is the high initial cost for the furnace, well(s) or loops - but costs are paid back very quickly - and the life expectancy is longer than a standard furnace/airconditioner combo. We're going to add one to out cottage soon. Can't do anything downtown. Ground source is definately the way to go – and closed loop if you have the space.

My parents (open loop) and brother (return well) have used them since the early 90’sboth have total energy bills less than 1K/year. My brother very much less because he also super insulated and designed for passive solar.

The only drawback is the high initial cost for the furnace, well(s) or loops – but costs are paid back very quickly – and the life expectancy is longer than a standard furnace/airconditioner combo.

We’re going to add one to out cottage soon. Can’t do anything downtown.

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