Geo Thermal vs. High Effiencency unit
- Thread starter cyfreddy
- Start date
We put in a geo thermal system in a new commercial building about 12 years ago. Have had a lot of problems - leaks in lines, pumps have gone out, had to replace one of the holding tanks. I'm sure we have spent more in repairs and maintenance than we have saved. Now they tell us we are at the life expectancy of many of the components of the system. Would not do it again unless I was convinced there were a lot of improvements in geo thermal systems.
If you're going to live in the house for the next 20+ years it might be something to consider. Takes a long time to recoup upfront costs.
Sounds to me like you're the victim of a poor design and/or installation. I've seen many geothermal systems that last a lot longer than that. (In fact when calculating life cycle costs for those systems the EPA recommends using estimated life spans of 25 years for most of the items in a geothermal system.
I've seen estimated paybacks from a commercial installations of 3-6 years. I'very never ran a Calc on residential installations however with that type of payback, you'd think it'd be worth it to install geothermal as long as you could foot the bill up front.
OP mentioned available incentives as well, which may make the ROI calculation even more attractive for geothermal.
Depending on your current system, you'll likely see a nice reduction in your operating costs regardless of which system you choose. Geothermal is probably more of a long-term approach. However, when selling a house, it may make it more valuable or at least more attractive to potential buyers.
I'd also recommend looking into 2-stage or fully modulating furnaces as well (applicable to both high efficiency & geothermal systems).
Isn't it better to do geothermal on new construction?
Wouldn't they have to determine how many feet of underground pipe is required and then dig up your whole yard to put it in? Mom and Dad thought about it once and the costs were going to be tremendous due to the excavation and the amount of pipe required for about a 6000 sq ft home.
Wouldn't they have to determine how many feet of underground pipe is required and then dig up your whole yard to put it in? Mom and Dad thought about it once and the costs were going to be tremendous due to the excavation and the amount of pipe required for about a 6000 sq ft home.
I am not a big fan of geothermal units. I have seen a lot that the owners have had problems with pumps or boards or even loops going bad. It seems like they have to be well engineered and installed correctly to work well. If they skim on costs or materials or installation it is a recipe for problems. Plus I don't think they save that much money. I do like in-floor or radiant heat.
Good thing in-floor or radiant heating systems don't have pumps, plumbing, or electronic controls!
Your lot/house needs to be set up for it. Mine really wasn't so I went with high efficiency furnace and air source heat pump. Natural gas will be cheap for awhile.
Good thing in-floor or radiant heating systems don't have pumps, plumbing, or electronic controls!
Lol, a radiant pump system can be changed out in 20 minutes for <$200 or so. A geothermal system, depending on the design, I have heard people claim $5,000 to $10,000 to change the pump. It is much more difficult because they are pumping so much farther. I'm not sure why the boards or electronics are more sensitive but perhaps more delicate due to the higher power requirements.
We asked a number of contractors and hvac people who did both geothermal and HE-units. Most said the same thing- Unless you plan on living in the same house for 25+ years and get lucky with no major repairs the best route to go is a HE-Unit and spray foam insulation. That is the route we went and have no complaints. Can almost heat the house with a fart.
I didn't know that geo units require pumps with diesel engines. But in all seriousness, the pumps are basically identical. The only thing that would cost 5 to ten grand is the compressor which are usually warranted for at least ten years.
Our geothermal has been great so far, but we only built the house 3 years ago. When pricing out the High efficiency A/C and heat vs the Geo, I think after tax credits the difference was under $3,000. Our unit heats/cools a little over 4,000 sq ft.
So, 4 years later... anyone have an updated opinion on geothermal? Renovating a house in the country and it needs a new furnace and a/c anyway.