overlooking the Potomac River. The
heat pump is connected to a radiant
floor heating system in the basement
and garage, two fan coil units, and a
domestic hot water tank. Two flat plate
solar collectors are also tied in.
The homeowners, lorraine and
Judd Horbaly, own a cabinet manufacturing business. They established
a new company, Riverview Builders
llC, to serve as general contractors
while building their new home, which
is where they plan to retire. They
knew from the beginning that they
wanted to build a leeD Gold house,
so they literally spent years researching
energy-efficient technologies prior to
construction. That research led them
to the Daikin altherma.
The Daikin Altherma features inverter compressor technology
Dan Foley, long-time mechani-
cal contractor and owner of Foley
Mechanical in lorton, Va., recently
installed his first Daikin altherma
air-to-water heat pump in a newly con-
structed, 5,500-sq.ft., three-level home
“We originally wanted a geother-
mal system, but after I spoke with
David Knight, a mechanical con-
tracting energy consultant with
Monterey energy Group in Califor-
nia, we changed directions,” lorraine
explains. “David has installed dozens
of altherma heat pumps on the West
Coast. after talking with him, we
got excited about the technology and
began to seek a mechanical contractor
in our area who would be interested in
working with this new technology and
installing it in our home.”
