Anybody have geothermal heating/cooling?
by nyirish08 (2019-03-18 15:01:47)

I am looking at a house that had it installed a few years ago as part of a massive home overhaul.
I have no background with such systems but they claim they haven't paid for heating or cooling since it was installed. I'm into that.


I had it in PA
by Stonebreaker9  (2019-03-18 20:29:16)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Loved it. I had a closed loop with desuperheater. Closed loop are less efficient but cost less to operate since you’re cycling the coolant instead of lifting/pumping water.

I kept the house at 68° in the winter (felt warm in the house, but it’s true the air will blow out of the registers warmer than a regular heat pump but not hot) and never used the auxiliary coil down to negative degrees in the winter and 68° in the summer with temps well over 100° outside.

Closed loop will also get progressively less efficient as the season progresses and you warm or cool the wells.

All that being said, my electric in the summer was usually $100, $110, $125, and heat was $125, $150, $165 for the peak months. Baseline was about $80. Cooling is where it really dominates.

It is very dry heat, so get a humidifier or your shock yourself with static electricity all the time.


Doubt their claims
by braille  (2019-03-18 18:51:23)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

We had geothermal before we down-sized. It is virtually impossible to have a “zero” electric bill from geothermal alone because the system requires electricity to run the pumps and blowers. Our typical winter electric bill for a 4,000 sf Home was $200; still a bargain but not free. Ask for a 12 month utility bill history; your realtor should be able to get.

One other comment. Geothermal heat never “feels warm”. You won’t stand on the heating vent to feel the heat. It’s a very gradual warmup unless you use the emergency electric heat, which defeats the purpose. My wife found it impossible to feel warm enough.

I would buy a home with geo again, but I wouldn’t spend the upfront money to install a system.


We installed geothermal when building our house in Iowa
by Irish72  (2019-03-18 16:57:44)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

in 1982. Our home is also passive solar, almost entirely windows on the south side. Our geothermal unit finally needed replacing in March, 2018, so 36 years with the original unit. Only downside is that I lost the 30% tax credit that expired 3 months prior. Our new unit was ~$13K. Normal summer electric bill for all electric 3200 sq. ft. house is $90. The highest monthly bill was just over $200 in cold, cloudy months. It is zoned for upstairs and walk out basement which has the bedrooms. We have never turned on the AC for the lower level.


Very low operating costs.
by builderbob  (2019-03-18 16:47:26)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Most of the operating costs is the electrical cost to run the pumps and fans versus utility costs to generate the heating/cooling process. The first cost to install is significantly higher than alternative systems which is why it is not more prevalent. It's a great system. It's a very reliable system and can be used for other systems as well if sized correctly. Our neighbors have a geothermal system and they use it to run a snow melt system under all of their walks and driveways. Can also be used to heat pools and/or even cool them in warmer climates. I'm always jealous looking at their steaming driveway as I'm trying to snow blow my driveway onto theirs. It would be my first choice if I were to build a new home.


Geothermal is a proven method of heating/cooling...
by ndgenius  (2019-03-18 16:05:10)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

it's quite expensive to put in but the homeowners are telling the truth that there's very little operational costs throughout the year which gives you a payback. The only thing to be wary of on your end is that any maintenance or service can be more expensive than you're used to. A service call from a HVAC repairman could be 75-150 and to service your geothermal you're probably looking at 300+. That's what I've heard from a friend that has a geothermal system in Michigan.


However, if the geyser erupts... *
by BacTien  (2019-03-18 16:31:42)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post


Where is it?
by Denver95  (2019-03-18 15:59:42)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Some of them have emergency electric heat as a backup, and there isn't much that is more expensive than that if you need it.


northern nj
by nyirish08  (2019-03-18 16:16:13)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

These people sank an ungodly amount of money into a house that just isn't worth as much as they think. Thus their 10 months in a solid sales market even in a crappy part of the country for home sales.


I am licking my chops looking at CT right now.
by Wooderson  (2019-03-18 16:44:39)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

$80k drops in some spots. It's wild.


Real Estates are among the highest in the land
by 330morrissey  (2019-03-18 19:51:56)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Don't forget to factor that in. And they are nearly guaranteed to increase faster than inflation, not unlike college tuition.


It sure as sh*t isn't a seller's market right now.
by voidoid  (2019-03-18 18:06:56)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Not looking forward to listing our place this spring...


I'm sure that's feasible....
by ndroman21  (2019-03-18 15:32:08)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

...the systems are very expensive up front but provide a source of constant 60-65 degree water for heating/cooling, meaning you're not doing much to augment it.

Do you know what time of system it is (vertical loop horizontal loop, pond/lake loop?). I'd think that maintenance could vary based on system type but I don't know that much about them.

FWIW, air source heat pumps are becoming so efficient that I think geo-thermal at the residential level is likely to fade very quickly.


We're building and were persuaded to go with a heat pump.
by Bill_brasky  (2019-03-19 06:13:38)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post

Over geo.


Good questions not sure. *
by Nyirish08  (2019-03-18 16:22:35)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Reply to Post