Geo Thermal Heating (Dover, Barrington, Richmond: real estate, appliances, home builders)

[bosox199]

Has anyone gone the Geo Thermal route?

Any experience with contractors, good or bad?

[WannaComeHome]

Originally Posted by bosox199

Has anyone gone the Geo Thermal route?

Any experience with contractors, good or bad?

Hi BoSox,

some friends over in Barrington built their house a coule of years ago and went geothermal. They've got a quick page about it on their website <http://www.enslin.com/rae/house/geothermal.html> I talked to the guy last April when he was down in Richmond, VA and they are still quite happy with everything.

[jeepnh311]

i know a bunch of people that have gone the geothermal route. many of them love having their system in.

[GregW]

A friend of mine installs these systems. I'll ask how they are doing.

If I could afford to build a house I would install one of these systems to provide radiant floor heating and summer AC. In NH I would also have a propane or diesel fueled back up generator and a wood or coal stove.

[steveusaf]

Originally Posted by bosox199

Has anyone gone the Geo Thermal route?

Any experience with contractors, good or bad?

I plan to build my next house (the last one I plan to live in) with Geothermal heating/cooling. I will insulate the house extremely well and use the placement of the house on the lot to provide some passive solar heating, so I probably won't need a terribly big system.

Besides getting both furnace for heat/hot water and cheap air conditioning in the summer, the biggest draw for me is not putting my hard earned American money to heat my house into the pockets of Saudi Arabia, Hugo Chavez, and other scoundrels (and even maybe terrorists or those that finance them). At least our elecricity (that the Geothermal runs off of) is generated in the USA. A lot of oil is imported.

Oh yea, I guess it can help save the earth also, but my primary motivation is to keep my money out of the middle east.

The technology seems to be spreading. I've googled "geothermal contractors in NH" and gotten the websites of many installers in the state. In 5 yrs when I build, costs should come down even more as it becomes more popular.

[WannaComeHome]

Oh yea, I guess it can help save the earth also, but my primary motivation is to keep my money out of the middle east.

I hear ya! That's a good reason too. We plan on doing many 'green' things as well when we build in 4 years.. but largely because it's cheaper on the maintenance. Green is nice, keeping things home grown is good, cheap is great! I'm just concerned what a geothermal system is going to cost to put in (and whether it's truly worth it in our case when our house with no heat should never be colder than 52F even in winter).

We'd love to do some solar, but passive solar is out since we will have a western orientation and there won't be all that much sun (just whatever is needed for the houselot), and it's not all that windy for a turbine to do much.

[Valerie C]

This is a really interesting thread for me, because my next real estate designation (those letters that I like to collect after my name ) is to become a Green-Certified Realtor. In the classes that I've taken so far, I've discovered that there are many shades of green, and people have different ideas of what green means to them. Geothermal heating is just one of the 'new' heating options, and sustainable building practices are becoming more important to many. There are some very exciting ideas out there, and I look forward to learning more about being "as green as you want to be". There is a neighborhood in Dover that uses geothermal heating not just in one or two homes, but in the entire neighborhood. I've been told that this is an extremely efficient way to heat, and reduces everybody's cost.

There are many "green programs" out there, and the National Association of Home Builders has alot of good information. Some of the other green things have to do with conservation of natural resources, and builders actually get "green points" for using such building practices as eco-friendly site preparation (conservation of trees), covered entryways, low flow water fixtures, Energy Star appliances, and water efficient landscaping... If you're interested in conserving natural resources AND conserving money, green building seems to be the wave of the future (and may make it easier to sell your home later on...) Here's the link to the NAHB's green area: http://www.nahbgreen.org/

[jeepnh311]

WannaComeHome: are you saying your home stays average 52 degrees in the winter without heat. where are you talking about? i would definitely recommend going geo in your new home. it is much easier and cheaper to install the system when building as compared to retrofitting once the home is built. you will get your investment back in average 7 years ( so is the word). Obviously if the cost of fuel rises (which it will) I dont understand why someone wouldn't want to be immune to that. There are tax incentives available, and just like Valerie C is talking about performing an EEM, and a HERS evaluation is one way to work money into the mortgage.

[WannaComeHome]

Originally Posted by jeepnh311

WannaComeHome: are you saying your home stays average 52 degrees in the winter without heat. where are you talking about? i would definitely recommend going geo in your new home. it is much easier and cheaper to install the system when building as compared to retrofitting once the home is built. you will get your investment back in average 7 years ( so is the word).

Yes, Jeep, that's what I'm saying our house will be. Maybe a little warmer, but probably not. We're planning an earth-shelter house (which is why we can't change the orientation of the house front, it depends on the slope of the land - which is westish). so if the electricity fails and we lose whatever heat we have, it shouldn't get colder than 52d even in a cold snap. So.. since I'd want to heat it to around 72.. is 20d really worth a geo system?? that little bit is likely to change the investment payback.

Yes, I do understand that it's much cheaper/easier to put it in when building than to retrofit. I'm just not sure that heating 20d is worth the expense. Other than that, I'm all for it.