Geothermal Costs, Payback Time, Pros and Cons

Had to poke my nose in again....

"It won't work as well at the end of winter and I will have to use resistance heating." The idea is theoretically interesting but it simply does not work like that. Go over the Sullivan and talk to the people who have actually done it. Stand on the shoulders of those that have gone before you. Give me the address of somebody in NEPA with a 2200sq ft house who is actually been using this system for 5 years or more and let's break down the actual energy costs. Even on environmental grounds it is a lousy idea.

Electric transmission nationally is about 24% efficient. So we take coal (50% of our energy comes from coal), burn it, transmit it where you need it, convert it back to heat..... hmmm I have a better idea..... same thoughts for the electric car. Oh, did I mention that the whole electric grid is overloaded now and if we adopted these ideas en masse we would need to spend trillions on upgrading the national grid. Obbuummmer seems to think we can run these power stations on tulips... aint goin' to happen.

2 different homes that I know of here in Wisconsin have Geothermal through the swampy muck ground near them. The owners have said that it is good luck to have wet ground for the heat transfer. So they seem happy as there electric bills are less than $150 a month year round.

Just a note that most of the sytems I have dealt with use about a 15% propylene glycol solution to prevent ice buildup inside the heat pump heat refrigerant to water heat exchanger. The unit are capable of running a such a low suction temperature, that once ice start to build, the suction temp lowers even more, causing more ice to build until a problem occurs.

There is a slight sacrifice of efficiency but not nearly as much as a 50-50 mix.

Geothermal is not for everyone and has to have the right conditions for payback.

i moved into a new 2900 sq. ft. ranch house in june 14th of 2010. waterfurnace envision geo thermal system installed. 2 electric ovens,2 fridges,1 freezer,electric dryer,electric hot water, 3 computers and a wife that likes to cook. southwest pa with duquesne light as electric company(8.56 price to compare plus their 6.2 distribution charge). heating cooling system including ductwork was $28,000 minus 30 % uncle sam put directly back in my pocket,= 19,600 cost. best heat pump was priced at $15,350...4,250 dollar difference. no gas was available, oil out of the question.

all meter reading done on the 12th of the month:

july $ 229.......$84
august $ 267...... $122
sept $ 259....... $114
oct $ 145....... 0
nov $ 187 .......$42
dec $ 238 .......$92
jan $ 274 ......$129
feb $ 286 .......$141
march $ 237 .......$92
april $ 174 .......$29

the october bill is the only month we did not heat or use the ac, so I am assuming that is my normal electric use...$ 145..

the second column is extra cost to heat/cool, not counting xmas lights and the extra time we use lights because of the shorter days during winter.

525 dollars to heat with geothermal.....payback is every year

the coldest the incoming water temperature that I recorded was 38 degrees in march. it is back up to 45 degrees as of yesterday

this is my experience with geothermal...not what I have read or someone has told me about

Geo thermal IS the answer, just not the way it is presented to the un suspecting public. The low grade heat under ground is an excellent source for a heat pump, regardless of location. problem,it is way over designed, not really well thought out , over priced. I installed a system of my own design that is about 1/3 of the cost, works as well, or better for heating and a/c, and can used with old fashioned radiators or radiant floor heat. my heating cost is even less than coal, with just the turn of a thermostat. someday, this, or something similar will be available to the public. someone already is trying to encourage geothermal with a tax rebate, good intent, too bad the current systems rob the tax payers.

Hi Freddy. The Nyle company unit is a good unit. North road technologies is the name I think.. it is a heat pump unit that pumps water with its own pump through heat pump and into your own tank. customers have been happy with them, 1/4 the electric for the same amount of heat, about 13000btu, for 1/4 the electric use. stay away from the air tap units, not as good. by using the free renewable heat from a basement or utility room, the heat pump only transfers and compresses the heat. not everyone has a good set up for them, but if you do, you can save alot on domestic hot water generation. I have tried several in my home, will never use any other system.