# Geothermal discussion?



## Joel_BC (Nov 10, 2009)

I was visiting with my neighbor yesterday after he plowed snow from a large area of our property. He's a practical man with many years of homesteading/small-farm experience. Uses the internet, but hasn't a lot of patience for surfing around on it. He asked me if I knew of a good online source of info and discussion about home-scale geothermal heating/cooling (retrofit). He inherited some money a while back and can afford to invest in this, if he can make his investment as beneficial and cost-effective as possible.

I said I did not know, since my understanding is that the investment in geothermal is out of my league. But I thought I'd put the question here: what is the best online forum to get up-to-date info and to get questions answered?

If you have more than one forum to recommend, that's okay. Thanks.


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## ct01r (Jan 21, 2014)

I can't point you to any forums, but we put in a geothermal heat pump years ago and love it. In our situation, though, it doesn't put out as high a heat as a regular furnace. We've been tightening up the house by eliminating as much of the drafts as we can to reduce the heat loss. If your friend lives in Canada near you, he might have the same problem. There's definately a learning curve, but it's worth it with the savings and efficiency. Curt


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## goto10 (Oct 5, 2009)

I had one installed in my 150 year old home in 2006. It was hard to get someone to actually do the job as I have no basement or attic and that is apparently where most installers put the unit and ductwork. Half of my ductwork is exposed because of this but I have gotten used to it. I also have no return registers because there is no space for it. 

My house is a little under 1100 sq ft. I like the system. It cools better than it heats but that may have more to do with my house and it's complete lack of insulation. I have a wood stove for heat in the winter and the geothermal just keeps my home around 60 degrees when the stove is not running. 

I had a 1 ton Climatemaster system installed. I think that's the smallest size one can get. It involved them drilling one well and installing one loop in that well. My only utility is electric and the most I have ever spent per month is around $120 and that is during winter months when I am running the wood stove less. 

Some of the pros are it's quiet. It's all indoor and under ground so it lasts longer. It saves space because it's an all in one unit for heating and cooling. It has needed little to no maintenance so far, other than changing filters and some motor burned out due to a power surge but it was covered under manufacturer's warranty. 

I think it was a good investment and I would like to have geothermal in my next home.


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## Joel_BC (Nov 10, 2009)

Hey, I really appreciate the responses. Thanks for taking the time. I'll pass your wisdom of personal experience along to my neighbor.

_To anyone reading this:_ I think my friend would still want to locate a discussion forum focussed on the home-scale geothermal topic. He feels the need to get up-to-speed on "the latest" - emerging tech, makes & models of equipment, costs, etc. Question and answer sort of stuff. So if someone can recommend that type of forum, please do.


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## MosesAtwood (Dec 3, 2014)

We have a Climatemaster 1 ton system also. One of the best things we did when we built the place! We heat mainly with a combination of solar and masonry heater, so we mostly use the geothermal for air conditioning, and during the edge seasons when we need a little heat and running the masonry heater would roast us.

I did a lot of online research before we made a decision, but what sold me was talking to a local contractor who was very knowledgable, friendly and willing to install a small system. 

http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/forumdisplay.php?342-Residential-Geo-Thermal-Water-Source

http://www.geoexchange.org/forum/


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## Joel_BC (Nov 10, 2009)

Thanks, Moses. I'm sending those two URL links on to my neighbor.


Anyone else who has online sites to recommend, please feel welcome to post them here. Thanks.


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## Dstrnad (Aug 9, 2014)

I install this equipment for a living and would be cautious. A person needs to evaluate each particular situation. Depending on specifics you may only get 10 years on it before the compressor fails at which time you will pay $2000-$3000 to replace the compressor and related parts. After which it will do nothing but cause problems. If you spread the extra $20000 extra over the next 10 years plus electric use you are not saving anything.


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## MosesAtwood (Dec 3, 2014)

$20,000 extra!? Wow. Our whole system didn't cost that much. But, we built a relatively small house. At the time, the geothermal system cost about $1,500 more than a conventional system, because of the 30% tax credit. We only needed one well, and it's about 150' deep as I recall. When they came to drill the water well, they drilled the geo well too. That saved some money.

If it had cost $20,000 more or even $10,000 more, we would not have done it. There's better ways to spend that much money! I'm glad we have it though. It's very quiet and very efficient. It's only 4 years old though, so I might have a different opinion in a few more years...


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## Dstrnad (Aug 9, 2014)

I do not consider the tax credit when talking about the cost for a couple of reasons. 1) Regardless of who pays for it, the cost is the same. 2)There are no guarantees on the tax credit so you would not want to sell someone a system they can not afford. 3) A lot of people do not benefit that much. The tax credit is none refundable, meaning you can only get back tax that was paid. If you have other credits that apply it may not even result in any additional refund. People think they get 30% back no mater what and it is not true.


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## MosesAtwood (Dec 3, 2014)

Yeah, all good points. As you pointed out earlier, every situation is different. I called our accountant before I made the decision to be sure the credit would actually benefit us. 

Another downside to geothermal, is the electric resistance heater. We don't use it - if we did it would certainly negate any savings! But it just doesn't get that cold here, and we primarily heat with the masonry heater. (That's a whole 'nuther discussion...)

The best advice I would give anyone is to talk to someone who installs these systems for a living. There's no substitute for experience...


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## Dstrnad (Aug 9, 2014)

On the new units you can not just turn off the breaker for the aux heat. They changed that to protect the unit from excessive run times and to keep customers from noticing the house not getting to temp. I do think geo is neat and can save money given the right situation, but it can also be a costly mistake. Know the life expectancy of your unit not industry average. If you live in a mild location it will last longer than one with severe winters


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