Subject: Re: Geothermal or Fossil Fuels/Grid Connect?

From: Greg Doty <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 00:54:13 -0800

Gerald Smith <[email-masked]> wrote:
>We have an off-grid house in Northern Vermont which we are going to be
>adding onto, basically doubling in size.  I have been exploring
>Geothermal Heat pumps as a way to heat without fossil fuels.
>Unfortunately from info I'm getting it seems like I would be looking at
>the geothermal setup drawing about 5 kw whenever it's running.  Lots of
>power.  We could hook up to the grid for say about $15,000.  My question
>is what is ultimately better for the environment and say over 20-25 years
>for my pocketbook. To hook up to the grid and use mostly utility
>generated electric or burn fossil fuels for heating.  I'm presently
>paying approx. $1000/year for propane hot water and heat.  Electric rates
>are about $.12/kwh at this point.  A consideration is that Vermont does
>supposedly have net metering so I could be selling some power back to the
>grid on good days not in heating season.  I can produce 4-5 kw on good
>days from our array, we have been using approx. 2.5-3kw during the
>winter/day.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.  It would be a big
>investment to hook up to the grid and in a way I'd feel like I was
>selling out but ultimately it might be the best choice for us and the
>environment.  Any one have any experience with geothermal heat pumps?
>It would appear that your concern is really should you continue using 
propane during the winter or connect to fossil fueled electricity. 
Instead of using propane, have hou considered using some other source 
gas, such as hydrogen? Small hydrogen generators can be built using 
either the electricity which you currently produce, or from wind power. 
It doesn't take much electricity to produce enough hydrogen to burn using 
the same equipment as propane, should cost a heck of a lot less, and have 
more BTUs. Without looking in my charts, hydrogen has roughly four times 
the BTUs as does gasoline, which is also more than propane. 35W is 
more that sufficient to produce enough hydrogen to run a car.

Greg