WaterFurnace Envision by Idaho Geothermal

The quality of construction on this new home is amazing.  The total energy bills for Dec, Jan, and Feb 2011 are lower than a typical 2,500 sqft home in this valley.  A single 6-Ton WaterFurnace geothermal forced air system provides all of the heating  and cooling needs.  The ground loop is designed large enough to support a future water-to-water geothermal heat pump.  The future unit will power the radiant floor tubing that’s currently installed and ready.

WaterFurance Envision by Idaho Geothermal

As the geothermal contractor on this project, we spent a week inside this home updating the ductwork system.  A new main trunk line was added to support a two-zone system.  This also included additions and modifications to the existing ductwork.  Fortunately the first snow didn’t fall up there until the day after we backfilled this ground loop. This type of geothermal heating and cooling system featuring a WaterFurnace water source heat pump will become the most sought after heating system in McCall.

Half way there...

The home originally had a propane furnace and propane gas fireplaces that were not adquate for heating this amount of space.  The new ductwork system is working well and we also integrated with the owners security controls contractor.  He can now control the heating and A/C from the anywhere via the internet

The start of a long day spreading slinky loops

WaterFurnace Envision by Idaho Geothermal

Soil conditions in Hidden Springs have been just as good as the Eagle area for installing ground loops.  The weather could have been better but oh well.  Geothermal heating systems make a lot of sense for new construction homes.  When considering the alternative cost of a natural gas system install and the tax incentives, the pay back time on a geothermal system upgrade is relatively short.

7,200 sqft home – retro-fit

WaterFurnace Envision

Heating Contractor: Idaho Geothermal

This home was recently purchased in 2010.  We removed two heating systems and replaced them with a single Waterfurnace Envision on a new geothermal loopfield.  Now the entire 7,200 sqft is heated by a single water source heat pump.   This became the third home over 7,000 sqft that we have heated with a single unit.

WaterFurnace Envision

Heating Contractor: Idaho Geothermal

This is a standard building lot in Hidden Springs.  The loopfield took most of the back yard, but once backfilled one would never know it’s there. Our geothermal heating and cooling system will provide higher efficiencies and lower heating bills than a conventional system.

WaterFurnace Envison

Heating Contractor: Idaho Geothermal

The soil in Eagle is excellent for ground source heat pump systems!  These are 1,000 ft slinky loops serving a 6 Ton Waterfurnace Envision unit.  A single unit heats this home on 4 independent zones (Intellizone system from Waterfurnace).

Private Residence  Homedale, Idaho

WaterFurance Envision

Heating Contractor: Idaho Geothermal

Our second closed loop system in Homedale during summer 2010.  This one is new construction and the home is ~3,200 sqft.  This system was paying back the day these homeowners moved in.  More info below…

After the tax incentives, the cost to upgrade this home to geothermal (vs. a propane gas system) was minimal.  This cost to upgrade was rolled into the mortgage at closing.  The monthly energy savings are actually more than the increased payment of the end loan, so these owners have more money in their pocket at the end of every month as opposed to a propane system.  The geothermal system was paying back on day one.

Just kidding, this job is in Homedale.  There are vinyards out there and more planned however.  This homeowner did say something about wine and roses when the propane company came to remove their tank.  He is not spending $3,500 – $4,000 per year in propane any longer.

The presence of lava rock will sometimes dictate the shape of your ground loop pit or trench.  It certainly is not a show stopper though.  We simply trucked in some clean top soil to bed our loop pipe.  Once the slinky loops are covered, you can then backfill with the native soil / rock and be confident that your pipe is safe.  This loop is serving a 5 Ton WaterFurnace Envision and a 3,800 sqft new home.

Private Residence 4800 sq ft, Eagle Idaho
Retrofit – Removed air-source heat pump and electric air handler

5 Ton WaterFurnace Envision and earth loop. After the install, this customer downloaded “Smart Meter” data from Idaho Power. He compared energy consumption over the last two years for the same two-month period. The WaterFurnace system was using half of the KWhrs per heating degree day. This is great data considering we replaced an air-source heat pump which are more efficient than std. gas furnaces.

Even better is the fact that the customers keep their home warmer now, and still save 35% – 50% on energy each month. Aside from the smart meters, we have installed metering devices directly to the ground-loop heat pumps on several systems. The customer can look (at any time) and determine exactly what they are spending to stay comfortable.

Private Residence 5000 sq ft, Eagle Idaho
Retrofit – Removed (2) propane furnaces and (2) A/C units

2-Stage WaterFurnace Envision and Intellizone system allows us to once again replace two heating systems with one geothermal unit.  Connecting the ductwork from both units and installing the zones were challenging here, but ended up working great.  We also went into the attic and replaced all the supply air ductwork to ensure proper flow to the upper level zone.

Notice the  main wall return right beside the unit in the basement.  We will pull most of the return air from the basement area with by-pass ducts connecting the main living areas upstairs.  This will cycle the air throughout the home and ensure constant pressure.  Located near Firebird Raceway.

Private Residence 4200 sq ft, Caldwell Idaho
New Construction

6 Ton water source heat pump and closed loop system. Zone controls allow three independent heating areas. The horizontal slinky loop configuration continues to be the most cost effective install in this area. Soil conditions and the heat load of the house always dictate the size of the loopfield. Depth is also a big factor. More below

We could install all our loopfields at a depth of 1ft, but it would be the size of a football field. The deeper you dig, the less pipe you need. Goal is to select the depth and loop length that is most cost effective to install. This customer keeps their home at 72 degrees 24/7 during the winter.

Private Residence 7400 sq ft Residence, 3300 sq ft Woodshop, Office, Apartment Space
New Construction

This horizontal closed loop serves over 10,000 sq ft of heated space, domestic hot water, radiant floor, and hydronic air handlers. We installed a single WaterFurnace Envision to heat the 7400 sq ft home with four separate heating zones. A WaterFurnace E-Series water-to-water heat pump provides hot water which will heat the detached buildings and radiant floors. Both Geothermal Heat Pumps are connected to the same loopfield shown here. More below

This home is insulated with closed cell spray foam which significantly reduces the heating loads. The system maintained 72 degrees throughout the house this December 2009. Based on the total amp draw (and $.072/KWHr), the system could run 24/7 (on high speed) for an entire month and the power bill would never exceed $260 for heating. Obviously it won’t run constantly, and the owner will enjoy even lower heating bills for this very large home.

Private Residence 2811 sq ft, Mountain Home Idaho
Retrofit – Removed propane furnace and A/C unit

This customer purchased this home, and immediately contacted us to install a geoexchange system. When he called the propane company to come and get his tank, they said “We are very sorry to loose you as a customer.” Apparently the propane truck was a frequent visitor during heating months. This is another earth loop that got modified due to lava rock.  More below

We changed the shape of the pit, and for the first time, brought in some clean fill dirt to backfill over the loop piping. This was a small expense compared to the savings over the life of the geothermal system. On a side note, this customer’s domestic water well was ~450ft deep with limited capacity. This made the closed loop system a much better choice.

Installing this ground loop was challenging due to the sloped hillside. You can see the soil contained a large amount of river rock which made for a tedious backfill process as well. We are often able to remove two separate heating systems in a home, connect the ductwork together, and install a single WaterFurnace geo unit. The Intellizone control plays a huge part in the ability to do this. This home is experiencing much less than half the heating bill from winters past.

Private Residence
6500 sq ft, Sweet Idaho
New Construction

We were selected as the geothermal contractor to install the earth loop for this custom home in Sweet Idaho. It connects to two  water-source heat pumps to provide heating, A/C, and all domestic hot water.

Private Residence 2200 sq ft, Gooding Idaho
New Construction

This home employs a Climate Master geoexchange system and 4 Ton loop field. Also installed is an HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator) which provides fresh air to the home while conserving energy. Exterior walls in this house are built from Structural Insulated Panels (SIP). The SIP’s provide excellent insulation and can be easily sealed to combat heat loss due to infiltration.  More below

The result was an extremely tight and efficient home. This owner enjoys total energy bills that max out at ~$60 per month in the coldest part of winter. The pit is an odd shape because we encountered rock during excavation and had to change the lay-out.

South Slope
Private Residence
5800 sq ft, Emmett Idaho
New Construction

We installed two Carrier ground loop heat pumps in this large home. Pictured here is the horizontal bore machine used to install the loop piping. Instead of digging a pit for slinky loops, we decided to experiment with a horizontal bore machine. This machine can bore a 4” hole horizontally at ~10ft deep. After each 200ft run, the machine can turn the drill head back toward the surface, attach to our loop pipe, and pull it back into the bore hole.  More below

Two pipes are pulled into the bore hole with a “U” bend fused onto the ends. The loop water flows out and back each bore hole absorbing heat from the earth and delivering it to the heat pump. Obvious advantage is saving landscaping or install loops under existing driveway, etc.

WaterFurnace Envision 2-Stage, variable speed blower, with R410A.

Cascade Lake – Vertical Closed Loop
Private Residence
5000 sq ft, Donnelly Idaho
New Construction – 2 geoexchange systems connected to common closed loop

This home is located right on Cascade Lake. Space restrictions didn’t allow for a pit with horizontal slinky loops. Instead a driller was employed to drill six vertical bore holes. Loop piping was then installed and grouted back to the surface. We fused the loops together into a header system that would ensure even flow through all six loops and brought the headers into the home.  More below

Inside we installed two circulators, isolation valves, and connected to the water source heat pumps. As with all closed loop systems, the piping was then purged of air, freeze protected, and pressurized.