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Geothermal - Yes or No

housebuilder14
9 years ago

Trying to decide if we should do geothermal. We have access to natural gas lines so we are leaning towards that instead. Would love your input.
Thanks!

Comments (16)

  • virgilcarter
    9 years ago

    A lot depends on your climatic range, the size and volume of your house and your soil conditions. If all of these are favorable to a geothermal system, it's what I'd do.

    We have two geothermal heat pumps--one zoned for the lower two floors and one zoned for the upper two floors. It has worked well for us in southeastern Pennsylvania. We are in an all-electric area, however.

    Good luck on your project.

  • kirkhall
    9 years ago

    This question TOTALLY depends on where you are in the country and what incentives there are to do it and how much ground you have and if this is a new build or not.

    In my area of the country, it is cost-prohibitive. In other areas of the country, according to members of this board, it isn't any more expensive (after incentives, may even be less) than normal gas furnace installs...

    If I lived in another area, we'd have done it. But, it isn't done here and is 2-3x as much.

  • housebuilder14
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Ok - I guess I have to ask my builder. Thanks.

  • worthy
    9 years ago

    When doing the calculation also consider :

    * any grants, rebates, tax credits or subsidized loans that may apply in your region;

    * payback calculation, that is, how long will it take you to make up a higher capital cost with lower/non-existent utility bills.

    Friends living on a ten-acre farm property trenched for horizontal geo-thermal and had a quick payback. OTOH, the owners of a new multi-million dollar home around the corner from us put in vertical geo-thermal. I would guess it was more a bragging point than anything else. Like driving an Escalade Hybrid or a Tesla.

    This post was edited by worthy on Tue, May 6, 14 at 16:18

  • hoosierbred
    9 years ago

    We are going with geothermal with a gas furnace back-up for our new build. Federal 30% tax credit (US) is good until 2016. And, if it's a new build, the 30% credit includes unit and installation. For us, the tax credit made up the difference of putting in a regular gas furnace.

    As others have said, it does depend on your location.

  • zippity1
    9 years ago

    my brother in mount zion ill loves their geothermal
    4800 square ft house plus basement

  • LOTO
    9 years ago

    We went with Geothermal on our build last year and love it...no noisy compressor outside and just peace and quiet. We also received a $3,500.00 check from our electric provider for going Geothermal as well as the Federal Tax Credit...NICE!!!!!!!!!!!
    Our Geothermal is great for heating but the AC will freeze you out in the summer if you want and the bills are very low.

  • nepool
    9 years ago

    Depends on the quotes you get in your area. We were really gung ho on it, until we got the bids. 4 times as much as gas even after the tax credit (we still needed the gas backup system, since it gets cold here). The payback was over 20 years. Not worth it.

  • joyce_6333
    9 years ago

    Not an expert here...this is only a comment regarding our own geothermal unit. We live in northern Wisconsin, and its was brutally cold this winter. One day we had -79 wind chill. Our house is 5200 sq ft finished. Our backup gas furnace has never come on. DH checks it now and then just to make sure it's still working. We are extremely happy with our geo, especially since LP went from 1.70 to 4.50 this past winter. After hearing of some of the outages in PA, a backup generator would certainly be a great thing to have. Initial cost was about the same as a gas furnace and A/C, after tax credits. Haven't asked DH about it recently, but in the past our TOTAL utilities (everything) average about $250/mo.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    9 years ago

    We are in zone 5, we use geothermal and we are very happy with it, despite the fact that we have some of the highest electricity rates in the country. Our total energy costs (heat, a/c, electric, hot water, everything) is less than our cable bill....but we also did 5 kw solar panels, solar tempered design, closed cell insulation, tankless hot water heaters, etc.

    We also have electric back up on our geothermal unit so no need for a separate furnace and we have yet to turn it on, even in below zero temps.

  • Brian_Knight
    9 years ago

    I think the biggest consideration is the house size and overall space conditioning loads it will need. Most energy efficiency experts would rather people put the extra money into the building envelope; air sealing, continuous insulation and better windows. If one builds to the current 2012 IECC energy code, its possible that the added costs of geothermal, even with tax credits, will not payback before the equipment needs to be replaced.

    The building envelope is usually the better and more cost effective path to comfort and low energy costs mainly because the payback for geothermal will be pushed back to the expected life of the equipment (15-30 years) while the building envelope details will be around for much longer (75-300 years). Geothermal tends to make the most sense for very big or otherwise energy intensive designs. If you are designing from scratch, consider passive solar, blower door test goals, continuous insulation for a better return on investment. I also think its tough for Ground Source Heat Pumps (preferred terminology) to compete with PV if the site has the light.

    Many in the high performance building world feel that Geothermal should not have such huge subsidies. Here in NC, we have an additional 30% credit which means that taxpayers are paying 60% (with 30% Fed credit) of the costs of wealthy folk's space conditioning systems. I like energy efficient subsidies but think that PV is much better for the overall community. Its also making people invest in mechanical systems that have a much shorter life than the wiser investment of the building envelope.

  • worthy
    9 years ago

    Good point about comparing the savings of putting the extra cost of ground source heating into a tighter building shell. But, pray tell, what does PV stand for?

  • Brian_Knight
    9 years ago

    Sorry! PV = photovoltaics. Electricity from sunlight!

    Passive solar design is a more cost effective way to utilize solar energy but the wide spread implementation and dropping costs of PV is really changing the energy game. Its possible that investing in a PV system and using that to power air-sourced heat pumps is a better investment than ground sourced heat pumps GSHP (geothermal). Many variables to consider of course and this strategy tends to make more sense in cooling dominated climates.

    With the new mini-splits (super efficient ductless air- sourced heat pumps) its possible that PV + air source is a better investment than GSHP even in cold and cloudy climates, all the way north into Canada. All of this stuff depends on the particular design details, site accessibility and climate. I would suggest anyone interested in GSHP focus first on ACH50 numbers (blower door test results) continuous R value details and exploring PV systems which will usually have a better payback and longer life than GSHP.

  • SaltiDawg
    9 years ago

    OP,

    Seems your getting some good suggestions here. I'd suggest you visit the Heating & A/C Forum and read some of the many similar threads.

    Carrier now has a new (more expensive) line of air Heat Pumps - Carrier Greenspeed. These are getting some attention as a competitor to geothermal.

  • robin0919
    9 years ago

    You might want to go to greenbuildingtalk.com They have a geo forum there.