? geothermal heating (credit, new home, heat pump)

[jessica13]

Does anyone have personal experience or know of someone with a geothermal heating system? I am thinking of installing it in the new home I am planning to build but not sure if it is worth the extra cost. It also seems that since the government is giving a 30 % tax credit, the dealers have just increased the price of these systems by 30% or more since last year. So if anybody has had these installed or if they know somebody who has them, any information would be appreciated.

[Werone]

A geothermal heat pump can heat or cool a home with a Coefficient of Performance of 5 !

That mean for every 1 kW of electrical energy you put in, in the form of electricity you get 5 out!

Same goes for heating. This is done by using the earth as an infinite heat dump/sink.

The Geothermal system is basically a long loop of a heat transfer fluid, usually water, that is either coiled horizontally in a field or put in the earth vertically, sometimes as deep as 200'....