exchangenergy is a specialized GeoExchange / geothermal design and installation company with a focus on high quality and system performance.

We have been designing and installing geothermal heating & cooling systems throughout Vancouver’s Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island since 1998.

We are growing and need to add to our team of Heating Technicians. We are looking for people with experience in our industry who want to be a part of a dynamic company with room for growth.

The ideal candidate will come from a similar industry or have an understanding of the technical knowledge to work in this position. Ideally you will have a trade (refrigeration, plumbing, pipe fitting or other).

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Installation of GeoExchange heating systems, including:
• Ground heat exchangers, Fusion welding (HDPE)
• Hydronic and forced air heat pumps
• Circulators
• Radiant floors
• Control wiring and thermostats
• Deal with clients in a professional, courteous manner (on site only)
• Some travel required

SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

• 3-5 years minimum experience in a similar capacity
• Able to take the lead on installations
• Good people skills, will be in contact with general contractors and owners
• Responsible and diligent
• Team player
• Ability to troubleshoot installations
• Use and understand technical terms as per industry standards
• Reliable vehicle with clean driving abstract
• Set of tools appropriate for the work
• Bondable

Please submit your resume and cover letter to info@exchangenergy.ca.
We look forward to working with you.

Geothermal Retrofit Feasibility

Q: Is it feasible to do a geothermal retrofit?

A: Sometimes it is…sometimes not.

If you’re gutting the house, a geo retrofit is as simple as a new installation. If you’re not, read on…

The primary goal is to reduce the load. This means upgrading windows and insulation first. These costs will translate into a significantly smaller geo system which will then pay for them and save more energy than geo alone. An unimproved house with a geo system will cause the geo system to be overloaded. Remember, the primary goal is to reduce the load.

The subject should then be broken down into 2 parts.
1) Do you have forced air heating with ductwork?
2) Do you have hot water heating with baseboards, radiators or radiant floors? This is called hydronic heating.

If you have forced air heating and it currently uses electricity or gas or oil, then generally the ductwork is too small and needs to be upgraded. The reason being is that the “dead dinosaur” burning furnace would deliver heat at 140 deg F and the new heat pump system would deliver only 100 deg F. (all approx values) This requires bigger ductwork to deliver the same amount of total heat. Simple, right?

An exception might be a really old house that had a big heating system designed for single pane glass and no insulation. If the glass and insulation were upgraded then the originally large ductwork would now be adequately sized. However this house would likely have been renovated at some point and the heating system could be inadequate or dysfunctional. If the basement is unfinished then ductwork upgrades are simpler than if the basement is fully finished, blocking access to the ductwork.

If you are replacing a tired air-source heat pump then the ductwork will likely be adequate.

If you have hydronic heating and it currently uses baseboard radiators that have copper tubes and aluminum fins (they’re not radiators at all, they’re convectors) then you’re out of luck unless you replace them and probably the distribution piping too.

If you have baseboard radiators that have cast-iron fins (rare) you may be in luck except you’d probably have to add more of them to make up for the previously mentioned lower output temperatures. If you have cast iron radiators (really old school) they may work but you may need to add more of them. They’ll need to be flushed and maybe some piping upgraded too.

If you have radiant floors, they are the easiest to convert, except some older floors (and still today) were/are badly designed and installed. They required high operating temps and were not that comfortable to begin with. If the radiant floors have enough tubing and loops installed the conversion should be relatively simple.

The 2 best parts of hydronic heating conversions is that you can rip out the mixing valve that used to mix down the high “dead dinosaur” burning boiler temps to what the radiant floor requires. You can also rip out the evil chimney and the CO detector. This was so inefficient due to the high temp standby losses in the mechanical room. Geo systems operate at low temps and have little or no standby losses.

The other best thing with hydronic heating conversions is that you can install outdoor reset control. http://www.tekmarcontrols.com/literature/acrobat/p022.pdf This is a further energy saving control that has been around for more than 40 years but only works on hydronic heating. At exchangenergy we install it on every hydronic system we design.

Summing up, geo retrofits can be feasible and even have a shorter payback than a new installation if you are replacing oil or propane as the fuel source. If your home meets the above criteria then a site visit is the next step.

Beware the over sized kitchen exhaust fan

Homeowners often select oversized kitchen exhaust fans not realizing that they require makeup air - adding considerably to the cost of their house project.

A sales representative may not even mention the “make-up air” issue at all and the the homeowner can subsequently experience some serious sticker-shock at the cost of make-up air.

For example a 600cfm fan requires 10kW of heat to temper the air.

This amount of makeup air represents the capacity of an entire electric furnace in a small home.

By transferring thermal energy rather than creating it through combustion or electrical resistance, geoexchange systems achieve very high efficiencies. For each unit of electrical energy consumed by a heat pump, three to four units of heat energy are moved from the earth to your building.

The two basic types of geoexchange systems are open loop and closed loop. Closed loop systems are preferred for their reliability and low maintenance.

Ground source heat pumps use a network of fluid filled pipes to transfer heat to and from the earth. The pipes can be inserted into vertical boreholes, buried in horizontal trenches, or submerged in the ocean, lakes, or rivers.

What is a geothermal system and how does it work?

Factors affecting installation costs include the heating and cooling load assessment, the usage of the system, the inclusion of domestic hot water or not, the type of distribution system used inside the building, and the thermal conductivity of the local soil.

We have prepared a couple of sample payback analyses to give you an idea of the costs and benefits.

The following downloads are in PDF format:

Download Payback Analysis for 5-Ton Geothermal System Using Ocean Loops

Download Payback Analysis for 5-Ton Geothermal System With Vertical Loops

We have put together some sample geothermal payback analyses to give you a clearer picture of up-front costs compared to a conventional system, so you can see how soon your geothermal system would pay for itself.

The following downloads are in PDF format:

Download Payback Analysis for 5-Ton Geothermal System Using Ocean Loops

Download Payback Analysis for 5-Ton Geothermal System With Vertical Loops

People ask us what a the geothermal equipment looks like and what brands we use.

Over several years of installing geothermal systems, we have used many different brands and models.

We choose equipment on a case-by-case basis, but to give you an idea, here are a few different kinds of heat pumps.

Geoexchange Links

Here are some useful resource sites we recommend in addition to the information we have provided here on www.exchangenergy.ca.

Enjoy!

.

• Canadian Geoexchange Coalition www.geo-exchange.ca
  
• GeoExchange BC: www.geoexchangebc.ca
  
• BC Hydro: High Performance Building Program: www.bchydro.bc.ca
  
• Natural Resources Canada: Press Release: www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca
  
• Terra Firma Builders: www.sirewall.com
  
• inter solar: www.intersolar.de
  
• Tekmar Controls: www.tekmarcontrols.com
  
• UPONOR Radiant Floors:  www.uponor.ca
  
• Chillventa 2010: www.chillventa.de

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

• www.digtheheat.com
  A guide to Renewable Energy including geothermal power and ground source heat pumps, solar power, wind energy, biofuels, green investment and government incentives. Clear explanations with examples, illustrations and videos.

exchangenergy  International (EEI)

“Exchange Energy!”

Due to the growing interest in geoexchange technology around the world exchangenergy is excited to announce the formation of exchangenergy INTERNATIONAL (EEI).

EEI will be able to offer renewable energy consultation virtually anywhere in the world.

Increasing global demand for renewable energy solutions and energy efficiency has led us to expand the scope and application of our expertise and pursue projects beyond our Vancouver, Canada homebase. The EEI engineering team can design and manage your project anywhere.

Our new geothermal / geoexchange international consultation company will pursue special projects with a focus on comprehensive planning, specialized engineering, and using local contractors as well as training local installers.

We now also offer geothermal / geoexchange system inspections worldwide.

Geothermal / geoexchange technology, being site-specific by its nature, an EEI specialist will need to travel to your project site and develop a comprehensive development plan.

Contact our company here for more information about international consultation.

click image for larger view

This unique installation features two independent pond loops which allow us to test, side-by-side, different antifreeze compounds, flow rates, and loads.

The ponds are 1,100 feet away.

6,500 sq.ft. of radiant floors, full output DHW, and pool.

All circ pumps have PT ports to monitor and adjust flow rates, never seen on residential projects.