The other older type pump was the water to air. These have 2 wells, one
to source the water and one to drain the water. The water is pumped into
the system to like the air is in a air to air pump. The advantage is that the
water temperature is pretty stable 55 deg F. Consiquently you get a lot better
cooling in the hot summer days and better heating in the winter. The problem
with this type is sinking the wells is expensive and the drain well is prone to
not being able to take all the water after some period of time.
There is a newer type called the Geothermal heat pump. It is very similar to
the water to air heat pump except that instead of sinking wells, the put a pipe
field (radiator) in your yard. There are a couple of types of
radiators. These
don't have the problems of the water to air pumps, due to the fact that it is
a closed loop system, so you don't get mineral deposit build ups nor have
problems with the wells (if there is a drought or the drain well closing off).
I'm not sure that either of these last 2 types cost, but I've heard
about $6K for
the geothermal and $10K for the water to air. I have not had an estimate
for either type.
When I purchased my last unit, 6 yrs ago, I think I got something like a 9 SEER
for about $2500. Then next step up was something like 11 or 13 SEER, but
it was over $1000 more, and it was only going to save me a few dollars per
month. So the break even point was after the unit should have failed so I
purchased the cheaper unit.
From what I hear the geothermal is quite good, and you can recoop the cost
difference within the life time of the unit. But I strongly suggest
that you get
estimates for both the air to air and geothermal units. Then ask for
an approx.
cost to run each unit. See how long it will take to recoop the difference.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with my unit. Over the years the compressors have
gotten a lot better and the over all efficiency of the units have gone up so
the heating and cooling are better, and the cost of use is less.
Hope this helps.
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair1948@cox.net
Va. Beach, Va
Phone: (757) 495-8229
48 TR1800 48 #4 Midget 65 Morgan 4/4 Series V (B1106)
75 Bricklin SV1 (#0887) 77 Spitfire 71 Saab Sonett III
65 Rambler Classic
Morgan: www.team.net/www/morgan
Bricklin: www.bricklin.org
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