Well how about that!

A couple days ago I detailed our well drilling experience, but I didn't have a picture of the finished product:

Ta-da.... We have a well!

I also mentioned that we would soon be receiving a well report and additional information from Moravec, which sure enough we received today. While there was some cut-and-dry information, such as well maintenance tips, disinfection procedures, and quotes on pump installations, we were totally caught by surprise by the well record:

• WELL DEPTH:        120'
• GPM:                        30+
• CASED TO:             60'
• HOLE DIAMETER: 6"
• BACKFILLED:        BENTONITE
• FORMATION 1:     0-53' SAND TILL & GRAVEL
• FORMATION 2:     53-110' LIMESTONE - CAVES AT 110'
• FORMATION 3:     110-120' LIMESTONE

First of all, 30 gallons/minute, all right! But, hold everything - does that say "CAVES"?? Really?!

I find this fascinating for two main reasons.... 1. CAVES!!! 2. I wonder how they know that detail? I think it's really interesting that they were able to determine formations and depths to such precision. I wonder what happens during the drilling process that suggests caves? I'm just curious.

But what I'm even more curious about is what it actually looks like down there! My imagination is running wild. I might have to ask around to some plumbing companies that do camera work to see whether going down 110' into a well is something they could do. Or I could look into a GoPro camera, which I know are supposed to be waterproof up to 197' (what a great excuse to finally get one)... Stay tuned on this mystery.

Well done!

Today we got our well drilled! For a while it was actually TOO cold but finally the weather cooperated and the conditions were good enough to move forward. Matt and I only got to witness part of the drilling but it was a fascinating process.

This huge rig started out horizontal and then moved up to a perpendicular position.

The drilling is about to begin. The rig is like a 6-shooter; there
are several ~20'  shafts. As the drill gets down, the holder rotates
and an additional shaft gets added on top to create a longer shaft.

Here you can kind of see the shaft going into the ground beneath the truck.
Below is a video showing the drilling.

Things started to get a little steamy...

Drilling is done; Time to put in the well casing!

Lengths of casing were welded together to get the needed depth.

Before we left the brothers let us know that it was 54' to bedrock, and they drilled a total of 120'. They estimated a 20 gallon/minute flow rate, which is fantastic! My dad called later to let me know that they actually wrapped up not long after our departure. So after $3835 and less than two and a half hours, we have a well! We'll find out more of its details in a couple days when Moravec sends us a folder of information and some quotes on pump installation. They were really friendly and efficient, and we were very happy with their work. So pleased, in fact, that it kind of broke my heart to have to tell them we already have someone lined up to do geothermal work for us (they do some geothermal work, too). But overall, a very exciting morning!

Updated budget:
Cost of well drilling: $3,835.00
Total spent thus far: $31,538.29

This just got real.

This morning, Matt and I stopped by Roth Green Energy to firm up some details about the geothermal and solar PV systems they quoted us, as well as put in down payments to lock in our contracts. We were greeted by coffee and donuts (they got them just for us!) and enjoyed another really great meeting. In a previous post about estimates I promised to go into more detail about the quotes we received, which I can follow through with now that we've locked in their services.

Geothermal
Considering the planned size of our house, it was determined both by us as well as independently by the folks at Roth that a 2-ton system would suffice. Not only will the system supply heat for our house, but it will also supply domestic hot water (DHW). After some thought, we decided to go with the in-slab heating due to its efficiency, quietness, even heating, and the fact that we won't have to spend the time and money to construct a subfloor as originally planned with the baseboard heaters. Below is the scope of the project:

• Supply and install a 2 ton NSW geothermal water to water heat pump
• Install 60 gallon Waterfurnace load side buffer tank
• Load side pump kit
• Load side Waterfurnace Hydrozone Controller
• Radiant Pex tubing and manifolds and two pumps and digital thermostats for two zones
• Creatherm RID insulation
• Supply and install a 60 gallon electric hybrid DHW tank
• IntelliStart feature
• 2 ton loop field and pump package with non-pressurized flow center

So, the bottom line: Total Geothermal $33,810.97

We put down a 30% down payment today of $10,143.29(!), which is the same amount we can expect to get back thanks to a 30% tax credit. So the total out of pocket is expected to be $23,667.68.

Solar

As far as solar panels are concerned, we figured: go big or go home. Since we are hoping to go net zero, we had to plan for a large PV array to cover all our energy consumption needs, which will be large since everything will be electric. We used a couple different approaches to project our total consumption, including estimating from my parents' electric bill (since we have similar habits, and their bill includes electric appliances and a well pump); estimating using our own current electric bill plus what we can expect from adding in electric appliances & a well pump; and using a worksheet provided by NYSERDA that included a breakdown by appliance. All three methods were surprisingly consistent with each other, and estimated a total usage of roughly 10,000 KWH/year. We also added in an additional 2,000 KWH/yr for an anticipated electric car (eventually). Roth Green Energy came back with the following 12,480(!) watt grid-tied PV system, complete with all materials, engineering/submittals, software, programming, installation and wiring, system commissioning, start-up, check out, and owner training:

• Supply and install 48 Solar World 260W mono panels, roof mounted on front roof - brand new & 100% made in the USA!
• 2 strings of 12 panels
• Provide 2 Sunny Boy 6000US STD inverters
• Production meter
• Monitoring Package
• Solar mount roof racking system
• Provide wire, conduit string combiner, system disconnect, and miscellaneous electrical components to complete the installation

There are all kinds of incentives for solar, including grants, rebates, and a tax credit:

                 Project Cost                       $45,000.00

                 NYSERDA Grant                 ($10,500.00)

                 Initial Costs                        $34,500.00

                 Federal tax credit (30%)    ($10,350.00)

                 NY State rebate                ($5,000.00)

                 Total out of pocket           $19,150.00

We were shocked to see that, thanks to so many incentives, the total out of pocket cost of such a huge PV array is under $20,000. We still recognize that it is a huge investment that will take many years to recoup the costs, but seriously: HOW COOL IS THAT??!? Some people spend money on cars, some people spend money on traveling... I'm happy to invest in solar photovoltaics. Anyways, it was important to put in a down payment today so that they could get started on the paperwork, since it can take months to get it all approved (and boy are we glad they're doing all the paper pushing for us!!). We put in a 35% down payment towards the total project cost, meaning $15,750,00.

Yikes, we wrote two huge checks today :-O ... That fact is still sinking in. These are just the first two of many that are sure to come (or go, I suppose is more accurate). It feels scary to part with so much so quickly, but we are really excited about what this money is going towards. We feel we'll be setting a really great example and are excited to be pioneers in really committing to green energy. We are very happy that we've chosen Roth Green Energy for our energy needs and feel confident they'll do a great job!

Updated budget:
Deposit for Geothermal: $10,143.29
Deposit for Solar: $15,750.00
Total spent so far: $27,703.29

Well, how about that.

You may recall that at the end of my post about finding a well driller, I said we had to hope for not too much snow - and, what do you know, the first day of winter rolled around a couple days later and the winter weather came right along with it. A little snow here, a little snow there (including a White Christmas!!), and then we got slammed with about a foot of snow on 12/27. 

Snow accumulation on my parents' deck, 12/27/12

There were additional small accumulations following that, but things have been pretty calm for the last couple days; so calm that my dad drove into the site and was able to drive a few laps without issue around where the well is planned to go. Also, Matt and I spent New Years Eve on a snowshoeing adventure all around the 40+ acres, and although the snow was deep the conditions didn't seem too slushy. So, my dad left a message with Moravec saying that he thought we had the green light.

At 7:30 this morning, we got a surprise call saying Moravec was on their way! Woo hoo! We were all pretty excited to get some real progress under way. I packed snow boots into my car with the hopes of spending my lunch break snapping some pictures of the drilling. However..... come 9AM, the operation was called off on account of mud after all. Sigh. I felt bad for the guys for coming all that way with their big trucks, but I guess they had another place to go in the area, so it wasn't all for naught on their end at least. But, it is still quite a bummer that we couldn't actually drill today. Next we'll have to clean off snow from the site so it will freeze up better, and then we can hopefully get moving. Luckily we're not on a time crunch at this point anyways.