
|

Construction Timeline: (Geothermal Equipment Room)
Here's the stuff I've been waiting for: The plumbing, pumps, compressors and
fans that go together to heat and cool our house. (2/12/2003 - 3/12/2003)
NOTE: Newest pictures at the top.
Click on any image for an enlargement.
Here's the
system diagram for my HVAC system. See the
LIVE data here!!!
(Read the system description on the HVAC
Page).
All this stuff (with the exception of the actual ground
loop) is installed in the Equipment Room, located in the back
corner of the house. |
|
March 2, 2003.
The HVAC equipment is nearly all in, and we're trying to schedule
the start-up. Too bad that 22" of snow turned into
the Blizzard of '03 with 52" of snow in 3 days. |
Here's
a neat shot of the Radiant Heat side of the system. Hot
water from the DHW tank (see below) feeds the Heat exchanger (a) on the
left. This heats the circulating slab loop water. This
heated water feeds the 4 zone pumps (c) via a mixing valve (b) to
limit the thermal shock to the slab. Water flows past the
Temp gauge (d) and through the one way valve (e), past the air
bleed (f) and down to the hot water manifold (g) for Zone #
3. Returning cool water is collected by the cold water
manifold (h), flows past the expansion tank (i) and back into the
heat exchanger. The makeup valve(j) ensures that the loops
are always pressurized. You can also follow the flow for the
3 other zones. The zone pumps (circulators) are switched
on/off by the relays in the zone controller (k).
|
|
The large 80 Gal tank (left) is used to store domestic hot
water (DHW). It is kept hot by the 34,000 BTU water-water
GSHP.
Water from this tank is circulated through the small heat
exchanger (see "A" above) by the small bronze pump that
can be seen just above the large tank (on the left hand pipe).
This configuration keeps the domestic hot water separate from
the radiant slab fluid, which can then contain an additive to
prevent freezing.
|

This is the radiant slab circulator control unit. As each
zone thermostat calls for heat, the appropriate relay energizes
and sends 110v to the circulator pump. When any zone is
activated, a separate relay closes which energizes the circulator
pump on the DHW side of the flat plate heat exchanger.
|

Oh Look. A Pressure tank. This is needed with any
domestic water system that's fed from a well.
The tank is pressurized by the well pump and can
maintain water pressure once the pump turns off.
It's effectively a water buffer, and pressure
stabilizer.
|

This is the "Works" of the water-water heat pump.
It actually looks pretty simple, and that's because in essence
it's really only a compressor, and a pair of heat exchangers. The
heat exchangers are on each side and they are wrapped with
insulating foam rubber.
|

Here's the water-water heat pump electrical works. Once
again there are very few parts. A simple controller board,
some pressure switches and a power transformer.
When the thermostat calls for hot water, this
unit sends a Slave signal to the Water-Air unit to turns on the
Ground Loop circulators. In addition, it turns on a separate
circulator to send the generated hot water into the DHW storage
tank.
|
|
While the W-W unit looks simple, the Water-Air unit looks
extremely complicated.
I imagine this is because this unit also has the variable speed
DC brushless fan motor which requires it's own set or electronics
and wiring.
In addition, this unit has two stages of heating, and two
stages of cooling, so the switchover between these 4 modes
required additional control.
|
|
February 12, 2003.
The HVAC equipment installation begins in earnest. All
these photos are taken in the Equipment Room. The two interior
walls are sheathed in Sheet rock, the tow exterior walls are sheathed in
Plywood. |
Dan and Gary return to complete the job of installing the HVAC
system (with a short break for
a predicted 18" Snowstorm :)
The Water/Air Heat Pump from WaterFurnace gets mounted below the
ductwork termination.
|

More of that cool insulated ductwork is used to complete the
air circuit. The smaller box on the floor in the foreground
is the WaterFurnace water/water heat pump used to generate the hot water for
DHW and the Radiant Slab. The box mounted on the wall is the Heat
Recovery Ventilator. It's not plumbed into the ductwork yet.
|
|
Here you can see the ground loop being split between the two Heat
Pumps. The unit on the left is Water-Air, the unit on the
right is Water-Water. Each section of the loop has a pair of
shut-off valves (white with red handles).
Oops, spilled a bit of water hooking it up. I think I
should have sealed the floor before they started adding equipment.
|
|
© 2000-2018, Phil and Lisa's relaxed lifestyle home.
An exercise in Energy Smart, Not So Big living.
www.OurCoolHouse.com - Ideas @ OurCoolHouse.com
|
|
This site is all about building a cool, energy efficient house,
that makes maximum use of earth sheltered design, passive solar heating and cooling,
geothermal exchange energy management, and right sizing of the house for it's designated use.
The home's placement is on a south-facing hillside in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland.
This site describes the design process, the technologies used and the expected results.
We also have a comprehensive Links Page for anyone who is also interested in designing a
similar project.
|