Yes, your electric bill will go up. BUT, and here's the big point, the increase will be about 30% to 60% of your existing FUEL costs. For example, if you typically spent $3000 a year on propane for heating, your electric bill might go up $1200. But that would make for a savings on your FUEL costs of about $1800.

Of course, each home is unique. A drafty uninsulated old farmhouse would be different from a new ranch that is insulated tight and ventilated correctly. And that's exactly why we do Manual J calculations to take in the very individual characteristics of your home. For some homes, we might even suggest that you consider a home energy audit to determine where energy might be being wasted.The savings also vary with the type of fuel that you will be replacing with geothermal.

ACG provides a thorough heat/gain loss calculation to determine the tonnage needed to adequately heat and cool a building. Most HVAC contractors do not offer this service. The size of all equipment and the loop field is based on the tonnage needed. For example, a 4-ton system requires a 4-ton heat pump and 4- 400-foot-long trenches.

A large city lot could accommodate a horizontal loop depending on the size of the system. Otherwise, a city homeowner could install a vertical loop system which, for an average four-ton system, would require a 20- by 20-foot area for the vertical wells. City ordinances vary but generally are not an issue for geothermal closed loop fields.

An open loop, also known as a "pump and dump," needs an adequate water source. It uses groundwater from a well as a direct energy source that is then "dumped" into a nearby stream, lake or floodplain. Mineral deposits and water quality may cause maintenance issues. Cost is $200-$400 a ton. A closed loop circulates a pressurized mix of water and methanol through the loop field. A four-ton system needs about 120 gallons of the mix. Horizontal closed loops are about $1,100 a ton; vertical closed loops are about $2,000 a ton; a pond plate, about $1100 per ton; and a closed pond loop, about $500 per ton.

When a system that is equipped with a desuperheater is operating, the desuperheater transfers any excess heat from the geothermal heat pump's compressor to the home's hot water tank or, in some cases, a spare tank from which the water tank draws. For example, in summer, when the system is removing heat to deposit it into the ground or water source, a portion of that waste heat is diverted to heat the water in the tank. 

 

Geothermal technology is the most efficient HVAC system on the market today.

• Since it operates on electricity, there are no emissions, no need for venting, no carbon monoxide dangers.
• It uses 25%–50% less electricity than conventional electric heating or cooling systems. This translates into a geothermal system using one unit of electricity to move three to five units of heat. According to the EPA, geothermal heat pumps can reduce energy consumption—and corresponding emissions—up to 44% compared to air-source heat pumps and up to 72% compared to electric resistance heating with standard air-conditioning equipment.
• It improves humidity control by maintaining about 50% relative indoor humidity, making it very effective in humid areas.
• The systems can provide excellent "zone" space conditioning, allowing different areas to be heated or cooled to different temperatures.
• The system has relatively few moving parts and, because those parts are sheltered inside a building, they are durable and highly reliable.
• Since it has no outdoor compressors, the system is not susceptible to vandalism. Yet the components are easily accessible indoors, which increases the convenience factor.
• With no outside condensing units like air conditioners, there's no concern about noise outside the home. 

No. But the equipment operates efficiently with entering fluid temperatures as low as 28 degrees. In October and November, when we typically start our heating season in Wisconsin, the entering fluid temperature can be 55 to 60 degrees. By late March, after we have been withdrawing some of the heat from the heat source for months, the same entering fluid could have temperatures ranging from 28 to 36 degrees.

The WaterFurnace equipment that we install comes with a 10-year parts and labor warranty. We fully expect the units to last 20+ years. The ground loop should last 50+ years. A separate 50-year warranty can be purchased from WaterFurnace for a minimal amount that would cover the cost of replacing the loop field.