Not a Geospring, but my Nyletherm makes more noise than I'd like, but then again, I'd like it to be silent.
My Geospring
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Yeah, fan noise is hard to attenuate.
I wonder what happened with active noise cancellation with respect to fan noise? I recall that was one of the prospective applications.
It just requires the person who wants active noise cancellation to wear noise cancelling hardware in their ears...
I have a question for those who have had there Geosprings for a while. I installed mine in June and it's been great. It's been running in heat pump mode since. As my basement starts getting colder in the winter how do I know when I need to switch to hybrid mode? Will I start running out of hot water? Last year my basement got as cold as 57 degrees or so. Thanks.
My basement was in the 50's last winter and it kept up in heat pump only mode no problem.
Simple. If you have enough hot water, leave it alone. If you don't, switch it to hybrid. Can't answer the question without knowing your usage and usage pattern.
That said, hybrid relies on the heat pump first, and only calls the element if it 'thinks' you are getting close to running out of HW. IOW, if its judgement is correct, the cost of just switching to hybrid is low....if you are low HW usage, it will never call the element, if you are high HW usage, it will call the element, but in that case you 'need it'.
You're overthinking a bit....57°F doesn't sound that cold to me....IIRC it is good down to 50°F or so. My guess is that recovery will take 50-100% longer in the winter, between the lower temp air and the lower temp water, but in a lot of scenarios that won't matter. I.e. there is 50 gals in tank that is good enough for your big daily usage....say two big AM showers, and the recovery happens at noon rather than 10:30, who cares?
That said, hybrid relies on the heat pump first, and only calls the element if it 'thinks' you are getting close to running out of HW. IOW, if its judgement is correct, the cost of just switching to hybrid is low....if you are low HW usage, it will never call the element, if you are high HW usage, it will call the element, but in that case you 'need it'.
You're overthinking a bit....57°F doesn't sound that cold to me....IIRC it is good down to 50°F or so. My guess is that recovery will take 50-100% longer in the winter, between the lower temp air and the lower temp water, but in a lot of scenarios that won't matter. I.e. there is 50 gals in tank that is good enough for your big daily usage....say two big AM showers, and the recovery happens at noon rather than 10:30, who cares?
I lower my temp in late fall winter. I run 140 in summer for dehumidification, It sits at 125 now. Family of 5 with 3 teenagers.
I have been running mine in heat pump only mode for about a year and a half. My basement stays in the 50s in the winter. I believe the cutoff temp is 45 for Geospring.
I have had mine hooked up to my Efergy energy monitor for the past few months.
Been averaging around $15 a month for hot water. Keep in mind here in CT we pay the 2nd or 3rd highest electric rates. Around .25-.28 per kwh after all the charges.
Those in warmer climates and with cheaper electric rates will probably cut this in half. These units are the way to go. I don't think you can heat water conventionally cheaper than these.
I got this unit for basically free from local utility rebates and federal rebates.
(broken image removed)
I have had mine hooked up to my Efergy energy monitor for the past few months.
Been averaging around $15 a month for hot water. Keep in mind here in CT we pay the 2nd or 3rd highest electric rates. Around .25-.28 per kwh after all the charges.
Those in warmer climates and with cheaper electric rates will probably cut this in half. These units are the way to go. I don't think you can heat water conventionally cheaper than these.
I got this unit for basically free from local utility rebates and federal rebates.
(broken image removed)
Thanks everybody. I'll leave it in heatpump mode. I just looked at my October electric bill. My usage was exactly the same as last year before the Geospring. It was the first month I could really use to compare since I bought the house a year ago and started my pool filter at the same time I installed the geosping in June. I'm really liking this thing so far.
I have been on and off these for a while. I have one problem.
As far as having to have a professional plumber install one, what is the case if you dont have a drain in your basement. I know there are condensate pumps, but i have nowhere to run one to. If you ran a tube outside, wouldnt it freeze?
As far as having to have a professional plumber install one, what is the case if you dont have a drain in your basement. I know there are condensate pumps, but i have nowhere to run one to. If you ran a tube outside, wouldnt it freeze?
Where does your septic leave the house at? Are there any places you can splice into it? I have a splice for my washer in the basement that is where the condensate pump sends the water too. You could use a 5 gallon bucket but inevitably you may forget someday to empty it.
When its that cold out the humidity level is really low so unless you have a real damp basement or running a humidifier it won't be an issue. Use a pump in the summer and a 5 gallon bucket in the winter.
from the pump if you want to drain it outside run your hose over to the outside wall and about a foot away from where it is going to exit run the hose up to the floor above and from there make the hose go down hill thru the hole to the outside keeping the hose running down hill and it should not freeze. at most it will make a ice puddle outside.
That really depends on where his Geospring is located. Many basements are humid from high water table, even in Winter. My basement windows used to have ice on the inside on very cold nights, before I airsealed and insulated.
TE
Yeah, i have a damp basement in the summer. I suspect it would have some in the winter. If you want to do it right, i suppose you have to plan on having humidity and go from there. I dont want to hijack this thread, maybe i should start a new one about the geospring installation.
I installed one of these a little more than a month ago as an upgrade replacing a 5 year old electric unit. I did have a problem with the unit initially, the cold water inlet tube was leaking inside the top of the unit where it connects to the actual tank. GE sent someone out to verify the problem (he was not a plumber). GE called after that to ask who my installer was so they could get them to replace the inlet tube under warranty. Since I installed it they offered to send the replacement tubes to me and I could install them. Once I replaced them the leak stopped, interestingly the original tubes were plenty tight enough. I suspect the threads were not cut at the correct angle leaving more of a gap than it should have.
Anyway, for my first bill after installing the unit it was in operation only about 2 weeks and the reduction was quite noticeable. I pulled my monthly usage data from the utility web site and it was my lowest usage in 2 years approximately tied with the usage from August 2013. We have already replace all lighting with energy efficient bulbs (CFL and LED), installed a high efficiency front load washer, have a relatively new refrigerator, installed a Biomass 25 for heat. I had been looking for an alternative for hot water for a while when I found these in this forum.
I had long considered solar but was always turned off by the complexity and cost. I also considered using a heat exchanger with my boiler but did not want to run the boiler in the Summer so that was out. For my situation I think this is about ideal. My boiler in in my basement utility area which is insulated, when I fire the boiler I always ended up with more heat in that area than I wanted (about 75F). Adding the heat pump water heater allows me to recapture some of that heat and put it to good use. My basement is now about 5 degrees cooler but that is perfect.
Really looking forward to seeing my KWH for a full month's usage after Christmas (February)!
Anyway, for my first bill after installing the unit it was in operation only about 2 weeks and the reduction was quite noticeable. I pulled my monthly usage data from the utility web site and it was my lowest usage in 2 years approximately tied with the usage from August 2013. We have already replace all lighting with energy efficient bulbs (CFL and LED), installed a high efficiency front load washer, have a relatively new refrigerator, installed a Biomass 25 for heat. I had been looking for an alternative for hot water for a while when I found these in this forum.
I had long considered solar but was always turned off by the complexity and cost. I also considered using a heat exchanger with my boiler but did not want to run the boiler in the Summer so that was out. For my situation I think this is about ideal. My boiler in in my basement utility area which is insulated, when I fire the boiler I always ended up with more heat in that area than I wanted (about 75F). Adding the heat pump water heater allows me to recapture some of that heat and put it to good use. My basement is now about 5 degrees cooler but that is perfect.
Really looking forward to seeing my KWH for a full month's usage after Christmas (February)!
Well my 1st Gen, blue-top, Chinese built, Geospring is experiencing some problems. Can't say I wasn't expecting it based on reports by others.
Came home to no hot water last night. The GS fan was running but the compressor was not. I rebooted it the unit and the fan again started but no compressor. I rapped on the side of the unit and the compressor came on, and I'm assuming, its heating.
Called both Lowes and GE this morning. Lowe's said contact the manufacturer. GE said that I should schedule a service call and that I was responsible for all costs other than parts. I asked what if I call someone out but the unit doesn't act up. They said that was my problem. I mentioned to them that this 1st gen unit was obviously poorly built and problematic. I offered that they should credit me some money and I'd buy the newer model. They declined and offered no other options though I made it clear I was open to options.
So, I've switched the unit to resistance heating mode so we'll have hot water for the holidays. I'll switch it back to Hybrid later to see if it acts up again. We now have a very expensive "conventional" hot water heater ($1400). I suspect a class-action lawsuit is coming. I've very disappointed with GE. They had a chance to gain a devoted customer and passed it by.
Came home to no hot water last night. The GS fan was running but the compressor was not. I rebooted it the unit and the fan again started but no compressor. I rapped on the side of the unit and the compressor came on, and I'm assuming, its heating.
Called both Lowes and GE this morning. Lowe's said contact the manufacturer. GE said that I should schedule a service call and that I was responsible for all costs other than parts. I asked what if I call someone out but the unit doesn't act up. They said that was my problem. I mentioned to them that this 1st gen unit was obviously poorly built and problematic. I offered that they should credit me some money and I'd buy the newer model. They declined and offered no other options though I made it clear I was open to options.
So, I've switched the unit to resistance heating mode so we'll have hot water for the holidays. I'll switch it back to Hybrid later to see if it acts up again. We now have a very expensive "conventional" hot water heater ($1400). I suspect a class-action lawsuit is coming. I've very disappointed with GE. They had a chance to gain a devoted customer and passed it by.
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