My Geothermal Heat Pump Part 4

UPGRADING THE WATER TANK

The Geothermal heat pump worked like a champ.  It cooled well.  It heated well.  The supply well had more than sufficient output to sink all the heat the heat pump needed.  The injection wells were working perfectly.  We adjusted the water flow so that the difference between the temperature of the water entering the heat pump and the water leaving the heat pump was the recommended 10 degrees.  We still had one problem.   The well was cycling off and on about every 10 seconds.  That would significantly reduce the life span of the pump and since it was 200 feet down in the ground, I wasn't particularly interested in replacing it prematurely.

A bigger tank was needed to relieve the cycling.   The function of a water tank as part of a well system it is to store water and pressure.  The tank contains kind of a balloon that is under pressure.  As water is pumped into the tank pressure in the balloon is built up until the well turns off.  As water is released from the spigot, the water pressure goes down in the tank and when it reaches a pre-set point, the well turns back on and pumps it back up.   My well pump was cycling on and off way too much.  A bigger tank was needed to reduce the cycling.  I purchased a much bigger tank from Northern Tool.  It was so big it would not fit on the existing piece of concrete.   Here is a photograph of both the old tank and the new tank for comparison.

In the picture above, the new tank is temporarily connected while setting on a nearby sidewalk.   This, of course necessitated yet another project.  A slab was needed for the new tank to set on.   I had never poured a slab but I decided to give it a try.  I made a form from wood, leveled it, and put a couple bags of pea gravel in the bottom. 

Below is a video of the process of pouring a slab.

The slab was poured and the new tank was connected.   The forms were removed.  Then the tank was painted to blend with the house.  See what you think!

FINISHED !

This solved the cycling problem.  It previously was cycling on and off every 15 seconds.  Now it is about every 90 seconds. 

I am tracking the electrical use and have posted it on Part 5, otherwise known as My War on the Electric Bill so you can see the effect (I hope!) the geothermal heat pump has on my electrical bill. 

Search this site with Google!