Ground Source / Geothermal Heat Pumps and Other Info

Hey! This video is older and, while some of it is good stuff, you should know that Air Source heat pumps have come a LONG WAY! I've made a new video talking about them and why we need More Pumping More Now.

Also the arc of heat pumps is now in a playlist!

Heat Pumps Part 1
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[TechnologyConnections]

Hey everyone, it’s pinned comment time! And there are some *corrections and clarifications* here. Exciting!
First, heat pumps part 1:
Second, refrigerants! Sloppy script-writing me didn’t catch that I implied CO2 as a refrigerant was the _only_ other option, but it’s not! There have been many climate-friendly refrigerants in use in lots of applications such as isobutane and propane, but the main trouble with these is they go boom sometimes. In larger systems the quantities needed can be dangerous which is why R-1234yf and CO2 as refrigerants are important!
Third, heat pump dryers! My explanation into them is, um, well not right. It’s better to think of them as giant dehumidifiers that recirculate air through the drum. Heat slowly builds up, but it’s not really being taken from the room. Instead it’s just the heat created by the compressor being continually recaptured, and a sort of thermal feedback loop forms. The cold surface of the evaporator also pulls the moisture out to be collected. Here’s a video from This Old House that has a great diagram (though the refrigeration cycle’s magicalness of latent heat is pretty much skipped)
Fourth, I regret saying it's a "myth" that tankless heaters provide instant hot water. More fairly I think it's a misconception.
Fifth, I dunno! I’ll add stuff here as we go along. Aren’t pinned comments neat? I love being able to put information right up at the very top for you so you don’t have to waste your time commenting!

[garysmith]

As a HVACR technician of 27 years, I just want to slap you....on the back and say bravo, and thank you for this extremely well made video. Information that I have been preaching for years.

[Zhixalom]

When I was about 9 we moved into a new home that my dad had designed, built by a local contractor. The primary heating system he had put in was geothermal. The secondary system was an advanced wood furnace. It was able to burn various types of woods at the correct temperature to avoid releasing any harmful particles or gasses. The furnace was only meant as a backup, in case we were to endure any particularly cold winter months and needed any additional hot water.
- You see, my father and his 3 brothers had, a little over a decade earlier, taken over the family business, a small company producing looms, workbenches, and conference furniture out of wood. So during wintertime, he would keep a small stockpile of wooden leftovers in case we needed to feed the furnace.
- I did obviously get the full story and explanation (several times actually) along with instructions on how to correctly adjust the furnace for the different types of wood. But as a kid, I didn't really think much of it and thought it to be fairly common. It wasn't until much later that I was able to grasp, how far ahead of his time my dad must have been by choosing a geothermal heating system... because the year we moved into that house was 1980.

[deanlinkimer]

Me mentally constructing a perfect home with all of this technology

[timdouglass]

When I was in HS in the '70s my girlfriend's father "invented" his own geo-based heat pump system. It almost worked! The first time he fired it all up something was obviously not entirely correct because he ended up freezing his lawn solid! A few modifications later and it actually pretty much worked, enough so that they had heat and A/C that actually kept the house pretty comfortable. Not bad for a shipyard welder with no formal HVAC training.

[mamAmojj]

Hi! Guy from Finland here.
Ground heat pumps have been extremely popular here in the last 15 years. Mostly installed in detached houses and small housing associations.

[KarlKornel]

0:27 I like to imagine that Alec spent a large portion of editing time browsing through stock-video sites to find a pair of roof AC units that were explicitly _not_ lined up with each other, or with the rest of the building.

[Zestric]

An alternative take on "You don't hate your heat pump, you hate your thermostat" would be "You don't hate your heat pump, you hate the guy who installed it"
If your heat pump seems to break all the time (like several times in one winter) get a different company than the installer to check it.

[JackSassyPants]

Hi I'm very late to comment on this video but my FAVORITE use for the heat pump is the combination ice rink/swimming pool building. Western Michigan University has both of them in the same building and the majority of the heat for the pool comes from cooling the ice rink, and I imagine there is a huge industrial heat pump in the building managing both. I just thought it would be nice to share :)

[xzynt]

I live in an 8 apartment building in Sweden that gets its heat from refrigerant-to-liquid geothermal. We installed it just a few years back so we could throw out the old oil furnace. The unit itself in the basement is really quiet, it saved us huge amounts on heating costs and has been way more reliable. 10/10 would recommend if you can get past the high upfront costs.

[aaronbeaupre]

As a professional HVAC service tech, I have to say your videos are absolutely on point even down to the terminology (despite missing accumulators but that's perhaps beyond the scope) but even after about a decade in the field this has been an incredible refresher and I will absolutely be referring future apprentices under my tutelage to these videos.

[JeffGeerling]

01:27 - The most cinematic shot of any non-Nest thermostat on video.

[cristianseres]

Thank you for a detailed information about geothermal heating!
Our housing cooperative in Finland just finished drilling 42 holes, totalling more than 10 kilometres into the ground to switch from district heating to geothermal heating. We have 138 flats and 9 buildings. We also installed 250 kWp solar panels. At least so far electricity is cheap and fossil fuels very expensive here. Every heating system is required to operate at -29 °C (-20°F) here.

[everdale]

As a European (Swede to be precise) the facts that surprise me the most are not the "cool ways we can heat our homes", because most of those were ways we're using on a regular basis. But stuff like using propane (or other gases) to heat clothes dryers is weird and shocking to me.

[jakobrosenqvist]

So living in europe i am amazed at how many of the things you describe has been everywhere for over 15 years.

[mattkutschera]

26:29 "We've talked about all I wanted to talk about heat pumps"
I have trouble believing that.

[larrybolhuis]

We are a geothermal heat user since 1992. Amazing units. Also makes our hot water (most of it) and in the summer said hot water is FREE (as in beer) because it is the first place the excess heat from our home is dumped. The heat pump is completely inside the home and the same size as a standard furnace. It's also just as quiet, literally the only thing you can hear is the fan. Here in Western Michigan USA the electric backup heaters have almost never been used. Highly recommended!

[domsusefulstuff]

The quiet, "usually" after, 'you know how pipes don't freeze underground' is hilarious

[EzerArthiom]

I think it isn't enough said by your audience, since most porbably the majority of them are in US. BUT THANK YOU A LOT for converting all the temperatures in Celcius, it helps A LOT for me and all people who watch you outside from US! TNX!

I was blown away how little heat pump cloth dryers actually cost to operate. It always felt luxury to me to have one, but recently I needed it because of the high humidity from drying clothes. And yeah, you can literally operate it from any outlet. Mine is temporarily in an unused sleeping room and works very well. Incredible how much water it collects from a load, and just thinking about all the water previously was getting onto the walls.