geotherm/solar heating

[chris Classic]

We are looking to use either geotherm and or solar heating, has anyone had any experience with these methods.  We will be based in 03 Allier dept.  Any information would be greatfully received.

[Deimos]

It’s a complex one with many questions.

To be honest you need to get experts in to make recommendations as the best/possible solutions will depend on you location, surrounding environment, etc.

There are financial aspects (e.g. tax credits, pay back times, installation costs, etc.) and practical aspects (e.g. geothermal, aero-thermal, solar, etc.) and which is best and will work will depend on your situation. For example, I had experts in who spent several hours here looking around, checking and discussing things. They finally managed to say that solar for hot water would work well, but they were unsure about heating. Geothermal in soil does not work well when the water table rises and for me in winter they were worried that its efficiency would be reduced. Aero-thermal works best in dry air (even cold is fine as long as its dry), but I get quite a lot of fogs and mists in autumn so they were unsure about that. You can drive geothermal in a river but the exchange pipes need to be at least 1m under water and only part of the available river is that deep (not enough).

Originally I was talking to my plumber about renewable resource possibilities and ADEME when it emerged he was ADEME approved. He said he would do a technical study and a few months later arranged to visit with some experts and a translator !!

For info you might start with ADEME’s web site http://www.ademe.fr. They have a lot of info there about systems and the financial aspects (typical costs, tax credits and grants, etc.) Their regional offices (their web site gives contact details somewhere) are, in my experience extremely helpful. I speak very poor French but have managed pretty well in dealing with them and the other aspects so if your French is limited, do not worry as it seems people are out to help.

Sorry cannot be more help but it’s a massive subject but also one well worth exploring. Just do not expect a “get xxx as its great” type of answer (nice if there were such an answer but unfortunately not).

Ian