Geothermal heat and solar power in NH, doable? (Portsmouth, Barrington: credit, loan)

[potatosoup]

I'm interested in installing a geothermal heating/cooling system and solar power to reduce my energy costs. I am wondering if these are doable things in our state? Anybody know of experts who perform these kinds of installations with any degree of success that is cost effective?

[maxxoccupancy]

I've been told that they're quite common, now, in northern New England. However, they run about $30-40,000. The cost of debt maintenance on this can be as bad as the heating bill itself. Still, I have given thought to building one into my next home.

[potatosoup]

Well that is interesting. I think one benefit of it is (geothermal at least) that you are no longer dependent (as much) on rented energy costs. So your exposure to the oil/gas markets becomes more controlled. Who knows what the price of those commodities will be during the future, the markets are obviously volatile. If you get a fixed rate on the loan to install it, or pay cash, then you've locked in a certain (large) portion of your energy costs for the rest of your life, or so it would seem.

[cedar_bluff_tree_farm]

Geothermal heat is an excellent choice and you can get a good tax rebate (on the cost of trenching) because of it's energy efficiency. I'd recommend looking into it more and see if it will work for you.

I have calculated the numbers and over the long run geothermal is a great choice. However, like the other person said, it's expensive to install. You do consume far less energy to heat and cool your house, so if energy prices rise significantly in the future, you cost will increase much less than your neighbors.

[WannaComeHome]

I have a friend in Barrington who built a house... hm, 4-5 years ago and had a geothermal system put in. They went with ClimateMasters and have been very happy with it last time I asked.

[steveusaf]

Originally Posted by WannaComeHome

I have a friend in Barrington who built a house... hm, 4-5 years ago and had a geothermal system put in. They went with ClimateMasters and have been very happy with it last time I asked.

Wanna,
I too am considering geothermal for my future house in Barrington. I went to the ClimateMasters website to search for local dealers and came up with a couple in the Seacoast area (1 in Portsmouth and the other in Deerfield). If possible, can you ask your friend which dealer they went with? I'd love to have a good word of mouth recommendation. Thanks!

I think geothermal is much more doable in NH than solar PV. There are many companies doing geothermal in the seacoast area. In fact, I passed by a new subdivision in Madbury last week and saw that all the houses were advertised as having geothermal systems.

I'd wait until solar panels come down in price more before I made that jump. When they do, I'll be running my geothermal off of them and saying no to foreign oil.

[WannaComeHome]

I've sent her an email inquiring. I know for a GC she used R.B. Holmes Custom Builders, Inc. (Formerly Great Bay Timberframes Inc.) Owner: Ray Holmes. If you want their phone, I'll DM you (I don't think I'm allowed to post full address & phone). I'll let you know what she says about the heating contractor.

[BF66389]

Geothermal is very doable. Install for a typical home runs $30k-$40k. Then 30% of that can be taken as a tax credit. Some utilities have other things available as well ($10k no interest loan for one of them). That very quickly brings the cost down.

As for reliability, with an open loop system its so-so (2 open wells). With a closed loop/deep system (usually 2 x 4" boreholes down about 500 feet each for most homes) it is VERY reliable. Friend just had a system installed for his home and loves it. I don't think he's gotten a bill yet though with the new system. He converted to gas tankless hot water at the same time.

As for solar...if you go for a full off-grid system (batteries); it's not usually worth it financially unless you REALLY cut your energy usage to almost nothing. Essentially just when you reach break-even; the system is worn out. However, a net-metering system of small capacity (say 1 or 2 kw) with no or limited batteries (just runs your electric meter backwards during the day under low loads) usually does have a positive ROI if you can site it properly.

I've also seen some wind power units around, siting them is the biggest issue; but two small 600w units mounted to the roof of a barn/garage would be very reasonably priced.

So in short...with proper siting getting about 3.2kw worth of generating capability on a net-metering system would be very doable for a reasonable investment. Once you start getting higher than that or go off-grid the investment seems to climb exponentially.

By friend used Ultra for his Geothermal system, and Skilling & Sons drilled their bore-holes.

[WannaComeHome]

ok, heard from my friend and she had this to say:
The person we're using now is Bill Wenzel. New Hampshire Geothermal Heating and Geothermal Cooling experts.
He's really good. Tell your friend under NO circumstances should he go with Key Heating. They were the ones that installed our system initially. They did an awful job and made quite a few costly mistakes that Mr. Wenzel has been correcting for us over the years. There's another place near here in Lee, but I don't know them and I don't know their reputation. Bill is a safe recommendation--he's done really well by us.

Also, If you need any information on the cash back geothermal incentives offered by the state, let me know and I'll give you my friend's (husband's) email and he can tell you the contacts you need. It makes a very expensive system work out to almost the same price as a standard oil system, and it's a huge help.

[steveusaf]

Originally Posted by WannaComeHome

ok, heard from my friend and she had this to say:
The person we're using now is Bill Wenzel. New Hampshire Geothermal Heating and Geothermal Cooling experts.
He's really good. Tell your friend under NO circumstances should he go with Key Heating. They were the ones that installed our system initially. They did an awful job and made quite a few costly mistakes that Mr. Wenzel has been correcting for us over the years. There's another place near here in Lee, but I don't know them and I don't know their reputation. Bill is a safe recommendation--he's done really well by us.

Also, If you need any information on the cash back geothermal incentives offered by the state, let me know and I'll give you my friend's (husband's) email and he can tell you the contacts you need. It makes a very expensive system work out to almost the same price as a standard oil system, and it's a huge help.

WannaComeHome,
Thanks for your help!