Belle Lago, a Toll Brothers community of single-family homes on Estero Parkway, has gone "green," exchanging its natural gas swimming pool heating system for a geothermal system.
"The new system is not only energy efficient, it is also cost effective," said Kevin Brown, senior project manager for Toll Brothers. "It's estimated that the new system will save the community thousands of dollars a year in heating costs. The geothermal system is already in use and very successful at the Reserve at Estero, a neighboring Toll Brothers community."
The system utilizes a geothermal heat pump, which extracts its heat from water rather than from air. Water is pumped through a special type of heat exchanger and is either "chilled" by the evaporating refrigerant (in the heating mode) or heated by the condensing refrigerant (in the cooling mode).
The community's lakes provide the water for the geothermal heating system, a renewable resource that can be used without interfering with wildlife.
"There's a pipe in our lake that extracts water and the heat it holds," Brown explained. "It puts the water through the heat exchange pump, which in turn heats the water in our pools and spa. Our pools stay at a comfortable 85 degrees and our spa stays at 104 degrees. In addition, should our water get too warm, as it does sometimes in the summer, the geothermal system can cool the water."
Belle Lago leases the heat exchange pumps, an arrangement that eliminates repair and part costs, trip charges and service call charges. The initial outlay of first and last month's lease payment plus an additional charge for upgrading the electrical service was less than the cost of replacing one natural gas heater, which only has a one-year warranty and typically doesn't last much longer than that.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/feb/26/belle-lago-goes-green-with-geothermal-heat/
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