phil scott wrote:
On Aug 31, 12:11 pm, dpb wrote:
....
W/ energy prices unlikely to retrench greatly, it only makes the payback
period shorter.

I'll stick w/ the recommendation that it's worth investigating...
....
energy is going a lot higher, real incomes are going a lot lower...
saving energy is crucial.

So geothermal is a good bet...what's to argue????

My take on the water furnace is this... Ive been in the business 40
years. WATER FURNANCES ARE TERRIFFIC! If they are installed
correctly, your local water is not too hard, or corrosive, your local
contractor has good talent working for them (not common) and you are
lucky.

One out of four ain't too good.

WaterFurnace is a good brand; that's what I said. There's no need to
use open-loop or well necessarily. One very good thing about
WaterFurnace (the company) is that they "vet" their authorized
dealers/installers so your chances of competence is greatly increased.

I agree that a groundloop system needs an installer who's got experience
w/ the technology. I'll disagree it takes much luck on the part of the
homeowner--all it takes is reasonable due diligence in evaluating the
proposals and the contractor.

There are plenty of sources for additional information on geothermal
from TVA, O(klahoma)SU, T A&M, etc., ...

....

There are many options. Ive listed them, the pro's and cons. Your
mileage may vary... it always does. One thing that never varies
though, the more complex any system is, the more nodes there are for
failure and the more service it needs over a life time. The water
furnace is an exceedingly complex piece of equipment.

It is no more complex than any other heat pump; in some ways it's
simpler as the external exchange unit is nothing but a simple pump
(again for the closed loop).

And, again, if you'll just shut up and read what I said instead of
arguing against them, I said specifically they are worth evaluating.

If you don't want to and have prejudices against them, fine.

....

Any recommendation for anything needs to have the relevant caveat's.


The relevant caveat is "they're worth evaluating". Period. Plonk.

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