Well Drilling is Completed!

3 wells drilled, tubing in, cement in place. Rig and equipment GONE! ↑

At long last, the three wells are done. The equipment arrived here on May 16, drilling began on May 23. The original projection was about 7 days of drilling. It took 30. Needless to say, neither the drilling company, Verde-Sol Air or the two of us was thrilled with the delay.

The issue was our soil. Most think it was because of rock, but no, it was because of sand. The soft soil kept caving in on the hole as it was drilled, and the water that is used to eject the rock dust and debris was causing erosion and caverns. They had to put nearly 80 bags of cement into the first well to stabilize it, the second was almost as bad. The third was a bit better because they stopped drilling and added cement as soon as they saw sand come out.

So now we have three holes, filled with tubing and bentonite (to lock the tubing in place and facilitate the heat transfer). Next step is to trench for the tubing to be joined together and brought over to the house. Then it will go up the wall into the attic and down into the garage, where the main unit will be. After that, the ductwork in the attic will be merged into one system (we have two separate HVAC systems now). Then the main unit will be installed and the new water heater installed.

Water heating is another benefit. A "desuperheater" takes heat from the geothermal system and preheats the water for the water heater. If additional heat is needed, then an electric heating element kicks on to heat the remainder. Currently we have a natural gas water heater, and it accounts for the bulk of our gas usage. Since we make a surplus of electricity, it makes sense to switch to electric. When the changeout is complete the only gas usage will be for clothes drying, cooking and the BBQ. Home and water heat will be geothermal.

The only downside right now is that we are in the heat of summer. When we started the project we expected to be done in May, when no A/C or heat is needed. Now we will be "offline" for a couple of days in 95-100F heat. I may have to put a portable A/C unit in the bedroom temporarily so we can sleep!

Working on the last well ↓


Get an idea how much mess for each hole...↓


Tubing on the spool, ready to go down the hole↓


Tubing in place, cement mixer standing by↓


Hole filling up with bentonite slurry↓

Well #1 done at last!

We have finally gotten the first well bored! It took quite awhile and I think some lessons were learned in the process. Now that the hole is 340 feet into the ground, the ground loop tubing has been inserted. In the photo below you see the last 8 feet or so that remains above ground to be connected later. They need to pour a cement mixture into the hole next, locking the tubing in place and assisting with heat transfer to the soil. Once done, the remaining steel goes away so it can be buried and invisible.



The trench we dug to hold the byproducts of drilling (water and sand) has been filling up. Normally you wouldn't see this much debris, but when the sides of the well cave in, extra sand comes out.



The drilling rig has been moved forward and re-set for the next bore. Note how 'clean' the area around the hole begins. The steel tube goes in and there's nothing around it...yet.


I hope that wells #2 and #3 can go much more quickly than the first. We would like our driveway back and the system in place soon!

Boring, boring, boring

The title is both descriptive of the action and the result. We've been at this for a few weeks now and we're not making stellar progress. We need three wells, each about 340 feet deep, for the heat exchanger piping. We are still on well number one, and not very far along at that.

Our soil seems to be quite sandy and the sides of the well keep caving in and the water used to remove the drilling waste erodes the sides of the well into a cavern. To counter this, the driller must fill the hole with cement until it starts to rise up the hole, then let it harden and drill through it in an attempt to get past the eroded area. It's sort of a three steps forward an two steps back dance here. We have been as deep as 105 feet, but as of Friday we were back to about 85-90 feet with about 75 bags of cement used to fill the hole.

Yes I am concerned about the lack of progress.

Let's hope this week is a breakthrough (pun intended) and we get past the soft soil and hit some good hard dirt or even rock. I'd like to get this project done, and the drill rig in the driveway keeps us from parking in the garages. Heck, we have to park on the north side of the house and hike across the dry creek to get to the front door. That's especially fun when it's pitch dark and you have bags of groceries...

Updates when something changes!

Pearl & Licorice Have a "Girl's Day" Out in Sedona

First, let me say I was just along as the "pup-arazzi photographer"! Deb and Emily engineered the event...a "Girl's Day Out" for my Pearl and Emily's Licorice Roo. They decided to go to Sedona and tour Tlaquepaque for the afternoon. Pearl had her nails done for the occasion:



First stop was the "Secret Garden" for lunch.


Then we were off to explore the venue and take in the sights, sounds and smells...


We visited Ken Rowe's sculpture gallery and talked with Ken and Monica for awhile...


We even found a store named for us: "Diva"!


And if you know Licorice, you know she LOVES hats, and so she had to shop for one while we were there.


We were having so much fun, Pearl had to give Licorice a hug:


Then we met a lady who got down on the ground with the girls and started to give them massages. Just what they came for, spa treatment!


Yes, Pearl was relaxed


Then Licorice got a card for her friend and decided to sign it with a nose print, using lipstick of course



The our spa treatments...here's Licorice still in her towel


Then off to a party, we were very popular and many people were taking our photos.


Pearl had a little too much to drink though...


We had a great time and we're planning the next event...wine tasting!


THE END

I Still Don't Understand How APS Does Their Calculations

Every month APS has a little chart in their online billing site. It purports to show a summary of the bill and how you use the energy purchased from APS. Part of that is a comparison of "my home" to "the average home". A recent month showed "my home" used $11 and "the average home" used...$11. Yet "my home" uses more energy than "the average home" according to this same chart. Yeah. Like the average home uses $11 worth of electricity a month. Check your bill. And since when is $11 more than $11?

And if you take their breakdown of where the money goes, it adds up to $23. Don't know where they studied math, but it sure doesn't match what we do in "my home".

Scroll down for the latest case of insanity...



OK, here's the current month. This time "my home" and "the average home" both used $9. Yet the two points on the chart aren't aligned. "My" $9 is higher on the chart, does that mean my money is worth more???

And this month, my $9 is made up of components that total $28. So I use less and it's worth even more? Is there anyone out there who works for APS that can explain this total nonsense?

Drilling Begins (At Last!)

We had a delay of a week due to some mechanical issues with the driller's truck. Another truck was brought out of storage and the remaining equipment was delivered today. A large air compressor trailer was hauled out to power the drilling unit. They arrived around noon (after delays going through Jerome) and worked until 5pm.


Above is the drilling tower, now upright.


The "business end" of the drill...check out the rotating teeth


Drill poised to begin


End of day, first bore underway. The foamy mud is a by-product of the water/air used to move things along. The excess goes into the ditch that was dug.



Here's the ditch with mud slurry in it.

End of the first drilling day!

Geothermal Day 1

The drilling rig has been delivered to the site. I expect drilling to begin tomorrow.



In the interim, the containment for the water slurry output of the drilling process has been dug out. There was an existing draining ditch in front of the property, though it was shallow (only about a foot deep at the deepest) it does run the length of the frontage. The driller needed a containment pond for the drilling slurry to sit in and evaporate. I suggested digging the drainage ditch deeper and to use it instead of digging something new. They agreed and today we have a draining ditch that goes five feet deep and about 65 feet long. After the water has evaporated (or been pumped to water the trees!), I will refill it to a depth of about 2 feet and line it with rock. This will improve the drainage and channel it to the open acreage area. (In my dreams there would be an underground cistern to hold a couple of thousand gallons of runoff water to use for irrigation...)


^ The drainage ditch before digging ^


^ Digging begins ^


^Completed digging: 5 feet deep and 60+ feet long ^