Rhode Island New Home in Westerly: Hydron Module

Just had our retirement house built in Westerly. Wanted to keep expenses low for the long term. We had a Hydron Module 3 ton installed by an actual Geo guru that has been installing and maintaining geo for 30 years, Rick King. He designed everything from the single 450' deep single hole loop to the ductwork and de-super heater. Got a Lochinvar hybrid water heater too.
It was cranked up a few weeks ago and works beautifully. We should be moving in in a week or two and we visit the sight every other day. Mr. King installed a Honeywell Prestige 3 thermostat for the unit and I added the internet gateway that operates the geo remotely and keeps tabs on everything.
We tried to make the house as tight as possible with external metallic faced foam board on the outside and a insulated foundation.
Our house is about 2000 sq ft total including the partially finished basement.
Had several energy wasting devices installed too. A sauna and a heated driveway(hill), comfort and safety. Also a 20KW Generac for backup power.
Going geo was not an easy decision, but it is feeling better every day. I can tell the quality of heat is much better than a furnace already. Whenever I check the house on the android the temp is always spot on and the humidity is consistently 50%, so that seems like it will be super livable.
I will try to keep updating this as time goes on.

 

Welcome, thanks for sharing

 

Yes, Welcome!

Just curious what the heat source for the driveway is?

 

Electricity. It is asphalt. I have a 70 foot hill section that I had heated. My wife is a snow clearing maniac, she loves it. She wants to do the top flat portion with a medium sized snow blower. Propane for the Generac and a fireplace, which is the only combustion in the house.

 

With the price of oil and therefore propane I might have set the snow melt to be dual fuel.

 

Might change when the Saudis decide that they need the money to run their economy (which is just a matter of time) and start cutting production. Suddenly the world will see what happens when no one has invested in new oil exploration for years. It will be much worse than 2008.
We might realize than that burning something to heat your house is really old technology.

PS: Electricity for the driveway is kind of...brave!

 

The heater is electric heating elements embedded in the asphalt. It is the kind that melts 2 tracks up the driveway. I thought about getting a boiler and embedding pex in concrete, but the more I looked at it the less convenient it seemed. Electric is instant on and little or no maintenance, but a bit more expensive to use. There is a sensor in the driveway for temp and moisture so it should work transparently. If it gets more expensive than I would like there is a cool off switch included. Before that happens there are many tweaks that can be made with the controller to improve efficiency. The driveway guy said I would probably need to plow if the snowfall is more than 8 inches. At that point the plow driver will have a nice guide to use for going up the hill. P.S. My electrician owns the plowing service I would use.

The remote thermostat app has shown some interesting numbers recently too. The weather service was reporting the Westerly temperature at 47 last night but the external temp sensor on the house read 29. The street is on a little stream valley, more like a trickle but a look at a topo map shows it as slight valley, and my back yard is a up hill lie. Must be enough to funnel cold settling air by my house. Points for extra insulation. The geo won't even break a sweat to keep us nice and cozy in this less than optimum winter microclimate.

docjensor: I too am of the school that people are living in a fantasy world if they think oil in not going up and dramatically, sooner than later. I have no kind of financial acumen, but I've also been thinking that now would be a great time to invest in those nasty oil companies. Too bad all my money has gone into the new house, a person could probably make a killing by investing in the rising price of oil that is undoubtedly coming.

 

Hmm, I could take being called names for a quick 50 G's. I am on a fixed income after all. lol

 

As even Schwarzenegger said today in Paris:

"I don’t want to be the last investor in Blockbuster as Netflix emerged.”

I think the transition from fossil fuel to renewables is happening quicker than everyone had thought. But still a big need for oil, unfortunately. But we are getting off topic.
Glad you like your geo system!

 

I know my next car is going to be electric, (I equipped the house with a 240v 50a line in the garage) but I just don't see that many on the roads. I hope your right. Though when the price of oil goes through the roof the transition will accelerate too.

I haven't moved in yet. It would be nice if I have nothing to report but smooth sailing in the future. My wife has already noticed how nice the heat feels from the new house, she was not very impressed with the thought of geo in the beginning. This is a good thing as word of mouth through what I call "the female mafia" has a wide reach and is influential.

 

I sold all my cars and got 3 electric vehicles. Loving it, what took me so long. Now it feels like last century when I sit in unconventional car. Yep, priorities of the female mafia: Handbags, shoes, countertops , carpets in the house....usually in that order.

 

I hesitate to ask about your cars as we are supposed to be talking about Geo. But which 3 electric cars do you have?

 

1 Tesla
2 e-Golfs

Tesla was my 1st non-german car, beats everything. e-Golfs are price attractive, fun to drive, but no comparison

 

Very nice. I was looking at a model 3 or a Bolt myself. The 2017 Volt is going to have the automation that I want too. I really want to put oil changes behind me though.

 

Not sure if the Model 3 or the Bolt will be up and running in the next couple years. The Volt still has a combustion engine and needs oil changes. The e-golfs were so price attractive, they were hard to beat.

 

Doc, love your vanity plate...and I have the Tesla grin too!

 

Usually not a big fan of vanity plates. But this is different. Grinning all the way....

 

Winter is over never had to turn on Aux heat. Still not living there, but the movers are coming in 2 days. Looking forward to the AC.
Electric bills pretty high due to the heated driveway and sauna, but livable considering what you get in return.
That Bolt looks pretty good, I think I'll get one. Hopefully gas will still be cheap enough to get a deal on one.

 

I love a happy ending.