Google spinoff Dandelion uses ground energy to heat and cool homes

61–62 of 62 posts

Re: Google spinoff Dandelion uses ground energy to heat and cool homes

#61

Post by jacknews » Thu, May 31, 2018, 3:21 PM UTC

jpao79 wrote: post #54

jacknews wrote: post #2

There doesn't appear to be anything new about this, ground-source heat pumps have been available for domestic use for quite some time. And going by the name, and looks, it's actually an air-source heat-pump, but I could be wrong.

If geothermal has indeed been available for quite some time and the finances work out for the US consumer, BUT there has been no significant US consumer adoption, shouldn't we be applauding Dandelion and Google for using the Google brand awareness to drive awareness around and shining the light on this proven, environmentally and economically sustainable technology? Even better if the existing geothermal and utility…

:applause Seriously, it's a great idea and a shame it hasn't been adopted more widely.

I would take issue with their terminology though. To me, geothermal energy is extracting energy from hotspots in the earths's crust, as in Iceland, hot springs, and so on.

This is just using the stable temperatures below the surface as a source/sink for a heat-pump - no energy is being extracted. Hence ground-source heat-pump.

Re: Google spinoff Dandelion uses ground energy to heat and cool homes

#62

Post by schiffern » Fri, Jun 01, 2018, 6:10 AM UTC

Retric wrote: post #48

schiffern wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ground source scales well if you have a large building and a large body of water near by then the payback time is short. But at single family home level it's just not that useful. There is a way: open-loop systems. A few years ago we installed an open-loop ground source heat pump (ClimateMaster brand) for under $6k. Water at 50F is drawn from a preexisting 15 gpm/50 foot well, through the heat pump unit, then dumpe…

The comparison for NYC is a solar hot water heater system which provides ~100f hot water and cost around 3k. You don't directly save on cooling costs, but as heating costs dominate and you get much warmer hot water that's worth it. Relative net savings depend on getting a system sized for your use, and how much cooling you use in the summer. But, you can also add solar panels for summer use with the overall value bal…

Unfortunately my site is much too shaded for solar. Already tried that.

For clarity, my system provides both water heating and space heating/cooling.

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