I don't know whether to post this under renewable energy, or home disasters.
We built a log home in Western Wisconsin in 2011. We moved into the home in 2012. We used a general contractor. When we hired him, we told him that we did not have unlimited funds, but not to cheap out. We had a nightmare with our HVAC in our previous home, and did not want to re--live that nightmare. The first full winter in our house, we were dismayed to find that we were bleeding propane. We called the HVAC guy, who tinkered with the system for several hours, then told us that our g.c. did not choose to offer us the better system, because we would not then go ahead and build. Therefore, he said that our system would require the use of quite a large amount of propane. He set the thermostat to use propane for 20 min/hr, and geo the other 40 min, regardless of the outside temp (even when it was 35 degrees outside). Our g.c. asked a man from another HVAC company to come to our house, and give his opinion. He looked at the specs for the system, and said that the propane should not kick in until temp was near 9 below. He said that the system was more than adequate for our home.He reset the thermostat so that the geo would run most of the time, but the heat pump kept locking out, with a code that said that the liquid returning to the house was not warmed enough. The consulting HVAC guy had me call the well driller to make sure wells were deep enough and grouted well. Well driller assured me that all 5 wells were 180 feet deep and "over grouted".
The gc and consultant decided dig up our yard to check for problem, assuming that the manifold was hooked up improperly. They found that it was not, but they found: one kinked hose in one well, one well less than 100 feet deep, and other wells much less than 180 feet.They also found what the man who dug the yard called an "ice cube", a conglomeration of hoses coiled, twisted and laying over and over on top of each other buried less than 4 feet deep. He said that the frost table by Nov. 1 last year was 7 feet deep. He said that there is absolutely no doubt the HVAC guy was negligent.Problems: no surprise, but the HVAC guy has closed up shop, although he did have insurance when he performed our job. His insurance denies to cover, because he does not have workmanship coverage, only liability. Our gc's insurance denies to cover, as he also only carries liability. The well driller now admits that he drilled only one well, and hired another guy to drill the rest. That guy said that the HVAC guy told him just to drill to 150 feet. He also said that he knew one well was less than 100 ft., but the HVAC guy told him not to worry about it, he would take care of it.
So now, we have a gaping hole in our yard. We have a disconnected sprinkler system which is full of water, and freezing weather coming too soon.
We welcome all comments! (Sorry so long)