Aj Richardson

Reviving this thread to talk about results. We moved in 3 years ago. The first year, the ticks were awful. Deer ticks and dog ticks. That fall, last spring, and last fall, I made the tick tubes using toilet paper tubes and permethrin soaked dryer lint. Put it in every shed on the property and near every chipmunk hole.

Last year there were almost no ticks. Super mild winter this year, and the dog ticks are back with vengeance. Ive killed 6-30 dog ticks every day this spring since the snow melted, and only 1 deer tick total. So it works for deer ticks, but only marginally for dog ticks. I suspect that dog ticks don't use mice and chipmunks as their first host here.

Looks like its $0.36592/kWh. But its also $10 flat to be grid connected here in MA. Pic of february bill attached.

That'll work for next month since this month has part old rate, part new.

paul wheaton wrote:

Aj Richardson wrote:
Cost to run in MA:
$0.41/kwh

That might be the highest in the nation!  Do you have a link to support that?

How about a screen cap of the rates on my bill?


Ah, sorry its $0.31 my bad. ill edit (strike out) my previous post for accuracy.

Not sure if it helps, but...

Ground source heat pump, western MA, ordered october 2021, finished installing october 2022. Total invoice price: $28,000. $6100 rebate check cut to me to arrive soon (rebate amount went up during installation), and current tax break is 30% of installed cost ($8400)

Cost to run in MA:
$0.41/kwh Edit: its actually $0.31
Uses either 2kw (stage 1) or 3kw (stage 2)
Highest daily usage to date: 50kw ($20.50 $15.5 for 1 days heat)
Estimated comparison to oil heat: $1300-2000 for the heating season vs $4500-6000 for oil in the same period (this years prices with our average oil usage over a winter)

Desmond Sharpe wrote:It boils down to your budget. A kwh costs about $0.27 a heat mat uses about half a kwh a day.

Also from western MA here. A kwh is now $0.41 $0.31 as of Jan 1. That may be going up even more shortly. Non-electric options like the RMH are probably what ill be implementing this year, for next years crops.

We just had a geothermal heatpump put in to get off oil, and its still leas than half the price of oil to heat the house, but we will likely put a RMH in the basement gaming room to help offset the electric bill, and make that room cozy for game nights too. I will likely start seeds there and then make a makeshift one in the greenhouse once thats up and running too. Wood is free here, just gotta get it. Some people will even deliver for free, so thats about as cheap a heat source as you can get!

Edit: corrected electric cost

Is there a guide on making a big ass wooden barrel? I've got tons of wood and not a big budget!

Unfortunately that info is outdated, rainwater as it falls is no longer safe to drink anywhere on earth due to forever chemical pollution. Well water may still be safe depending on how well the ground filters the rain.

https://www.businessinsider.com/rainwater-no-longer-safe-to-drink-anywhere-study-forever-chemicals-2022-8

Nissa Gadbois wrote:
We already have a well and so I don't know if we need to worry about code for depth or trenching.  It has been here for a long, long time.  Or do we?  So if we already have a well in place, what is there to do?  

 

The code is specifically for the geothermal well depth in MA. I also have a well for water, only 100 ft deep, ground water is higher than 80ft here. So to meet code we needed a second well drilled which is like 80% of the cost.

If you were to do the radiator method mentioned above for cooling, and return the water to the well after, you wouldn't need a new well drilled, but you risk contamination of the water, from the plastics or metals that you use for piping. I do not have experience with that method, so I cant tell you what is required for it to meet code or even if it can.

Nissa Gadbois wrote:OK, so next question (and maybe this needs to be in a separate topic), How would it be to DIY an installation for an old farmhouse?  Current system is oil-fired forced hot air.  We also have a lovely well that might be a source for a ground-source system.  Is this something that absolutely, positively has to be done by a super expensive contractor?  Because we definitely do not have the scratch if this thing is going to cost over $10K.

Can you do it yourself (ground source heat pump)? Possibly. Here are some things that may help you make that decision:

1. Do you care if the system is "up to code"? For example, in MA, the well is REQUIRED to be nearly 500ft deep. But you could easily get away with around 100ft if your ground water is high.

2. Do you have access to the tools needed? You will need to dig the well, place the single continuous tube with the u-bend down the well, and grout it off. The other option is using existing well water and no glycol to prevent freezing but this risks well contamination. Do you have access to equipment to dig the trench to your house? The trench should be below the frost line if you arent using glycol, you need to bore through the foundation to get the piping in.

If you can do all that, the rest should be rather simple in my opinion. There are other styles of ground source heat pumps, but the single borehole or well water are probably the simplest and least destructive to existing property. Forced hot air is great though, it means you dont need to modify your ductwork!