Geothermal Energy for the Home

As with many renewable energies for the home, the cost can be a major setback to taking the leap toward green.  Geothermal isn’t really an exception, although some of the additional benefits can make it the easiest first step for your home.

Geothermal heating and cooling systems work by using the earth’s consistent temperature to provide a much more efficient system to keep your home cozy.  Besides the earth being heated from its core, approximately 50% of the sun’s heat is absorbed by the ground.  Making the earth a very sustainable, renewable energy resource.

There are a few different types of installations, but for most American homes, a closed vertical loop is the most common.

A vertical loop is the preferred method for homes with less than an acre of yard space.  It requires 2 (or sometimes more, but usually 2) holes to be drilled, on average 400 feet deep.  Some installations in specific areas can only require 100 feet, but up to 400 feet is common.  As you can imagine, the work and machinery required to coordinate can be a considerable cost component, usually ranging from $4000-$10000.

The way it works is this.  The earth keep a fairly consistent temperature beyond 6 feet under ground, usually around 55 degrees fahrenheit.  So rather than a traditional HVAC unit having to heat the outside, above ground air from 10 degrees on a cold winter night, it only has to heat it from 55 degrees.  Easily you can see how much less work your system would have to work to heat your home to a cozy 72 degrees.

Equally, cooling your home from a steamy 100 degree day, only having to push the cooler air from within your geothermal system into your home and circulate the hotter inside air out, the system can utilize about 1 energy unit that a traditional system would have used 5 to perform the same function.

This ultimately results in less electric or gas usage as well as providing a cleaner air into your home.  Without having to force the outside air through, and only recirculating the already contained air, a more pollutant free environment exists.  A second perk that doesnt allow for a equal comparison to traditional systems.

Also, if you opt for a water heater hook-in, any excess heat generated from the geothermal units will be shofted to your hot water heater so it also has to work much less.  During the summer months, when the system is cooling and has no use for the hot air generated from the system itself, shifting this to the hot water heater has shown to alleviate almost all of the electricity needed to heat the water.  This gives you plenty of hot water for free during these months.  Depending on where you live, it can be a good portion of the entire year.

Keep in mind that there are similar components to the system with one big exception, no outside units spinning fans and weathering the outside rain, snow and heat.  All of the components are either within your home or in the case of the loops, within the ground.  This extends the life of the system considerably, many quoting 20-50 years (20-25 for the inside components and 50 for the ground loops).  Yet another perk for low maintanence and better longevity of your system.

So how much does it cost?

Obviously it can very, and having not yet had one installed in my own home I do not have an exact price.  However, I have recently been given a quote for $40,000-$60,000 for a complete system with all of the bells and whistles for a 3500 sq foot home.  They also stated that it would most likely be at the $40,000 range but when drilling 400 feet into the earth you sometimes don’t know what you are going to bump into.

Considering the low maintanence, no outside units to contend with, less pollutants, energy savings and overall great feeling to have tapped into this renewable energy resource, it is a very strong possibility this homeowner will be making the switch.