Geothermal Systems

[intrepid27]

Wife and I just purchased house that needs new furance (actually 2). I was going to look into feasibility of a geothermal system. Anyone have any experience. Savings? Cost? Resale value of home? Any facts woul be be appreciated.

 

[cytech]

Wife and I just purchased house that needs new furance (actually 2). I was going to look into feasibility of a geothermal system. Anyone have any experience. Savings? Cost? Resale value of home? Any facts woul be be appreciated.

The most expensive part is drilling the well for the system. There are tax credits for the purchase of the heating and cooling units. And you can sometimes get the unit put on a separate meter to get the electricity cheaper.

How is the insulation in the house? What are the bills like now?

 

[kingcy]

Depends on who you ask. It takes a long time to pay for itself. If you are going to live there for 10 to 15 years look at it, but if not it maybe a waste of time.

 

[goldmember]

Do it, it's a no brainer. Mid-American Energy (Central Iowa) $2k Rebate, and you get a tax credit up to 30% of the "Total" installation cost", and you may also qualify for a special untility rate as well. Your bills will drop like a stone too.

 

[breck53]

Wife and I just purchased house that needs new furance (actually 2). I was going to look into feasibility of a geothermal system. Anyone have any experience. Savings? Cost? Resale value of home? Any facts woul be be appreciated.

I've put in several of these-my opinion-the best system available-you can get a 30% tax credit on these right now. It typically takes 6 to 7 years for payback opposed to a high eff. gas furnace-you also would be switched to an all electric rate from utility co. Don't forget about expense for upgrade of electrical service to run the unit.Would definitly help on resale of house. Great system if you're in your house long enough to realize the savings.

 

[intrepid27]

Bump back to front page. Got buried last week with all the expansion threads.

 

[2020cy]

I talked to two guys recently with fairly big houses and they stated their total utilities run from $100 to a little over $200. If you are planning on staying there, it is probably worth some research.

 

[DevilDog]

We looked into doing this back in 2006 but was just to costly for us upfront at the time. We did get an air source heat pump instead of keeping the gas furnace and its been a terrific investment so far. Our bills have dropped quite a bit and u keep the thermostat set at the same temp all the time so feels much more comfortable.

 

[ruxCYtable]

Wife and I just purchased house that needs new furance (actually 2). I was going to look into feasibility of a geothermal system. Anyone have any experience. Savings? Cost? Resale value of home? Any facts woul be be appreciated.

One of my best friends has a geothermal system. He said the pumps break so often he longs for the reliability of his old natural gas furnace.

 

[jaretac]

Wife and I just purchased house that needs new furance (actually 2). I was going to look into feasibility of a geothermal system. Anyone have any experience. Savings? Cost? Resale value of home? Any facts woul be be appreciated.

The most expensive part is drilling the well for the system. There are tax credits for the purchase of the heating and cooling units. And you can sometimes get the unit put on a separate meter to get the electricity cheaper.

How is the insulation in the house? What are the bills like now?

Dead on. I worked for a geothermal installer and believe it or not we didn't drill a lot of wells. Most of the time there was space where we could use a excavator/backhoe and dig a series of channels for the lines to run through. If you have even a half-full acre of free land, using a excavator is much much cheaper and just as efficient.

One complaint that we did hear a lot about Geo-thermal heat is that it is too cool. Let's say the house is set at 72 degrees. Where a normal furnace will blow 100+ temps (well above body heat), the geothermal will blow 80 degree temps (well below body heat). The geothermal never had a problem keeping up, but if you hold your hand over the vent it will feel cooler than most furnaces.

 

[Bipolarcy]

Wife and I just purchased house that needs new furance (actually 2). I was going to look into feasibility of a geothermal system. Anyone have any experience. Savings? Cost? Resale value of home? Any facts woul be be appreciated.

I used to listen to a energy efficiency home builder program on the radio during some long commutes and he had a formula for deciding when a geothermal unit would be the most cost-efficient way to go, based on the square footage of your house. Suffice it to say that the bigger your house, the more it would pay to go geothermal. I think your geographic location also had something to do with it. Don't go putting a geothermal unit in a little cracker box house because you could never live in it long enough for it to pay for itself.

It also would behoove you to make sure your house is well-insulated and sealed before you invest in such a thing.

 

[cytech]

Dead on. I worked for a geothermal installer and believe it or not we didn't drill a lot of wells. Most of the time there was space where we could use a excavator/backhoe and dig a series of channels for the lines to run through. If you have even a half-full acre of free land, using a excavator is much much cheaper and just as efficient.

One complaint that we did hear a lot about Geo-thermal heat is that it is too cool. Let's say the house is set at 72 degrees. Where a normal furnace will blow 100+ temps (well above body heat), the geothermal will blow 80 degree temps (well below body heat). The geothermal never had a problem keeping up, but if you hold your hand over the vent it will feel cooler than most furnaces.

We got lucky when we installed our system. We purchased a storage garage facility from bankruptcy and it was built to be expanded to climate controlled. The location already ready had a working well that used to serve and nearby by neighborhood. It made it cheap to install the system then. I don't know what to compare it to really but for the amount of space we heat and cool I think we are doing pretty good.

 

[cloneluke80]

One of my best friends has a geothermal system. He said the pumps break so often he longs for the reliability of his old natural gas furnace.

revive 2 year old thread...


What brand was this? I am looking at geo...

Also any other recent experiences with geo?