In 2016, I have a 5 ton WaterFurnace Series 7 unit installed in my 2300 sq ft house in Eastern Iowa. It is a closed loop system with 5 wells drilled horizontally, each 205' in length. I am fortunate enough that my utility provider offers a discount on "electric" heat from October Through March at $0.065/kWh. From Oct through Feb I have used a totally of 2960 kWh. That is $192.40 before tax or facility charge. I am very please with the performance of my unit and very happy that I ditched LP.
The upfront cost of these systems is significantly higher than other alternatives. The argument for making the additional outlay is that buyers will have lower energy bills and that over time a buyer would be ahead of the game. However, the sellers of these systems never point out that the cost to fix a geothermal heat pump is greater than a conventional system. The reality is that a geothermal heat pump system has more moving parts to break and ultimately pay to get repaired or replaced.
Usually the systems come with a 10 year warranty for parts, and a 5/10 year warranty for labor allowance. The reality is that geo systems last significantly longer than furnaces and usually require very little preventive maintenance. I get it that your loop is leaking, and that your installer is not able/willing to address it, but that is not the fault of the geo system.
Well, it is still cold in Iowa, but slowly warming, I thought I would update this post on winter #2 on my WaterFurnace Series 7 Geothermal. From October through February, I have used a total of 2340 Kwh's for heating. This comes out to be $152.10 on my electric bill not including tax or facilities charges.
2340 kwh does not make sense for a 5 ton system for that duration of winter. Why such a large system if your only consuming that much electricity?
This is why I have a 5 ton unit. Keep in my this is a variable speed unit, and not hi/lo stage. This is from December of 2017 (included in the 2340kwh) And this is from January 2018. So yes, I feel that the 5 ton unit was apprioraitely sized for the extreme colds. The Series 7 does run 24/7 when temps get low. In these extreme cold snaps that I posted above, the unit will cycle into heat speeds7-9 (Not enough to kick on electric heat) Are you suggesting you think my kwh usage should be higher? I thought the name of this game was efficiency and less (kwh's) is more (great efficiency).
Its seems low ( which is great ) there are several folks on here that have monitoring setup and there usage is much higher. I dont have monitoring setup but during the coldest month sometimes I push 2000 kw/hr per month. But I live in a much colder climate ( Maine ) and my electric heat will come on for longer periods.
My electric heat has only been on to test it. I would recommend a WaterFurnace Series 7 to anyone. This sure beats spending $1000 on LP!
I could not concur more. A 5 ton running at lets say stage 5 will run much more efficient than a 4- ton running at stage 7 or 8....Some day, people will understand. CONGRATS ON A VERY EFFICIENT SYSTEM. It is very important to cover the peak to not collapse the grid in the future. Electric supplement is becoming more and more the enemy.
So to follow up with this.. My third winter usage from Oct to Feb is 3,780 kWh. (for previous comparison of 2960kWh) From Oct to Apr my usage was 5020 kWh. At $0.065 per kWh I am sitting at $326.30 for the winter.
I am fortunate that the Co-op provides a heat rate from Oct-May of $0.065/kWh. on a separate meter. Regular rates are $0.16/kWh on peak (1600-2100) $0.083 off peak (remaining 19 hours a day)
My 2019-2020 winter usage (Iowa) Oct- March heating - 4600 kWh which comes out to $299 at $.065/kWh So to recap: 16-17: $ 261.62(4020 kWh) 17-18 $ 292.50(4500 kWh) 18-19 $ 323.70 (4980 kWh) 19-20 $ 299.00 (4600 kWh)
Where at in eastern Iowa are you located? Or, the more important question is, who did your install? I take it you are happy with the installer? I live near the Quad Cities, and am trying to research installers.
