Pond loop heat pump

RobG

Hello all, I am considering installing a WSHP in my home and have no experience in this field. I currently have two heat pumps (first and second floor). I have a spring fed pond that is 3/4 acre, 20 foot at the deepest and 50 yards away from the home, it maintains about 50 degrees year round. This is a job that I would like to do myself. I have not run any numbers yet on the heat loss, I am just gathering information at this point to see if it will be cost effective. Does anybody have a good source of information on the subject? I see that most people use HDPE coils for the pond heat exchanger, I was thinking of a battery of finned copper tube pipped in reverse return and wrapped in siltation fabric (I have not checked the PH of the pond water but my well water is 7.5? The pond is man made and dug out of shale, not much mud at all to deal with. I live in the mountains of northern Virginia with a moderate climate. Any recommendations of equipment manufacturers and pros and cons would be appreciated. My wife and I are looking at downsizing to a smaller home in a couple of years and thought that doing this may help with our electricity bills and aid in selling the home in the future. My wife and I live on the first floor of the home and the second floor is guest bedrooms and a bathroom. The second floor heat pump is used about once a month for guests and the rest of the time it is kept on for basic heat and A/C. I'd love to hear some ideas.

Thanks,

Rob   

heatpro02920

I have done a few pond systems

They work very well and they are definitely cost effective since you save the drilling costs... Although some systems need long trenches to the source {I have a sprinkler company that does my trenching}.



If I were you I wouldnt get crazy about reinventing the wheel, its a simple system...



First step is to get a heat loss for each zone.



Figure out what size unit and what unit you are going to purchase.



Check the specs on what that specific unit wants as far as tubing, run that tubing install your indoor units, and your done... EZ PZ Lemon squeEZy

heatpro02920

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RobG

Geo system

Thanks for the response, any recommendations on equipment brands? Pricing and bells and whistles seem to across the board. I'd like to keep it simple. How do these systems work with HDPE? I would think that o2 barrier pex would be more appropriate. As for the pond loop heat exchanger, I have a bunch of un-used 3/4" finn tube baseboard that I don't have enclosures for that I bought from a supply house that went under. I could whip up a heat exchanger in a couple of hours (once sized up). It just seems that the finned tube would be a better heat exchanger than a few hundred feet of coiled HDPE? I'm not an expert, so any thoughts are greatly appreciated

Thanks,

 Rob 

heatpro02920

Water furnace

I have had good luck with them, prices are OK, there is cheaper stuff out there but for residential I like water furnace {for commercial Climate master is hard to beat}. I would buy what you can get locally because then you will most likely be able to get local parts support for that brand also...