The $3346 difference between option 2 & 3 is primarily for the desuperheater - thatÂs a lot of money! System #1 SEER equivalent is 24 compared to TraneÂs 15.75. System #2 equivalent SEER is 26.5 vs. TraneÂs 15.75. They have to offer you at least a 1-year warranty (5-years on the compressor). So, what I would do is negotiate a better price for the system (#3) with the desuperheater and a fixed period of say, 3~4 months (say till spring) to decide on an extended warranty. If the system is trouble free all winter, chances are you donÂt need the extended warranty. Bottom line is if you can install a geothermal system for less than $20k  itÂs a no brainer! Last piece of advice; insist on the Waterfurnace with the highest COP (5). BTW: R-22 is at least 5% more efficient in heating mode & closer to 10% more efficient in cooling mode than R-410a from what IÂve seen, but donÂt let that sway you. Go for 2-speed compressor & ECM variable speed blower. IMO SR

Hey guys finally got the HVAC plans to our builders AC guy. They ran a j-calc and did cost comparisons for the units we specified. The calc shows that we need 3.88 tons including ventilation air. first, we looked at conventional units. Between 14 and 16 seer, there is a $2200 difference in equipment cost. 14 SEER = $10893 & 16 SEER = $13,100 b/c they buy so many 15 seer trane systems, they get the 15 seer system at the same price as a 14seer. For our home, there is only a $90/year difference in operating cost between 15seer and 16seer. so the payback would be 6.7 years to go from 15 to 16 seer. we would pick the 15 seer unit in this comparisson. Air source heat pump in the same range isn't even worth looking at. it only saves an additional $10/month. Again, not a big jump from 15 seer conventional gas. however, the dealer did mention that we would probably have to install a fresh air system if we go with gas heat -- this is due to foam spray in our attic and the corners of our house. we may need to rethingk a few things if we go with gas. this is where it gets interesting. we looked at geothermal. 1. the dealer sells all types of systems and manufactureres -- geothermal, air source heat pump, conventional ac... carrier, trane, frigidaire, water furnace... etc etc. 2. he assured me that he has hundreds of units in each system type installed in the local area. 3. there are two other geothermal companies in town, so should he and their whole company get hit by a bus tomorrow, there is still knowledgable geothermal service in the area. 4. I was initially interested in a closed loop system, but we do have a potable water well on site. a/c guy swears that in over 20 years he has not had a problem with open loop geothermal units on a potable water well in our area. local water quality is very high compared to other states where they have installed them. also says that the temperature in a closed loop varies b/c ground temp changes. says open loop is his preference due to consistent water temp from ground well. 5. top of the line Envision system from Water Furnace is $21,495 but the tax rebate is $6,449. 6. geothermal costs half as much to operate. operating cost for the three units is as follows... 15 seer unit = $142/month = $1708 per year 16 seer unit = $134/month = $1610 per year Geothermal = $ 61/month = $ 732 per year 7. we then put the units into a 6.5% interest loan scenario VS the monthly savings to calculate the investment payoff. Pay off for geothermal VS 15 seer is 4.1 years. Pay off for geothermal VS 16 seer is 3.8 years. 8. an installation tech showed us the geothermal loop piping. they use an iron to fusion weld the piping to the fittings. makes for a solid and thick joint. 9. hot water biproduct from geothermal can be used for hot water in our home. all comments are welcome. please shoot holes in all of this. thanks again!!!

I guess you are out in the boonies with no nat gas. I can't help with equipment. It is a relatively low volume kind of demand for equipment, I'm sure. You may be forced into the industrial/commercial area and if you are not big enough, you may be out of luck. Assuming that you can get a suitably sized unit, if your hydronic system is designed to deliver heat with a low enough water temperature, it can probably be done efficiently. What is the water temperature currently set to? Try heatinghelp.com and terrylove.com. I've seen some good hydronic heat/boiler threads in both places. If you have to stick with an electric boiler, you might look at the installation of a large storage tank and going to day/night rates. You'd have to run some numbers to see if it will work for you.

If you wanted to install an Air-Source HP with forced air, I’d recommend the Carrier Greenspeed, properly sized. You could also install an Air-To-Water HP for in-floor hydronic heating that can also supply air-conditioning hydronically as well. Any system you install, air-source forced air, air-source hydronic or any type of geothermal should only require a 200amp entrance. There is no good reason to disallow open-loop geothermal on ecological grounds as long as the ‘leaving’ water is returned in a responsible manner to the same aquifer it was drawn from. However, there might be other reasons for you to not choose this method. Your greatest efficiency, comfort and ease of zoning will come from a properly designed all-hydronic system whether it’s Air-To-Water or Water-To-Water Geothermal. I’m glad that you mentioned that you’re in Canada. For further information explore these links of a Canadian product made for our climate, Heating, Air-Conditioning & Domestic Hot Water: Nordic Installation Manual & Full Documentation Nordic - Basic Information SR IMPO