BethG Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 We're considering going geothermal in our home (which we're building now). If you went this route, are you glad you did? Pros/Cons/Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emcap Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 We did last october. Love it so far. We got a loan to pay for a portion of it and our bills for all house electricity, including heating/cooling/hot water, plus the loan are cheaper than what we were spending before on propane. Of course, our furnace was old and not the most efficient. We had vertical drilling done, which really isn't much more than horizontal if you find a company that owns their own drilling equipment. The only con I can think of right now is, compared to the fireplace insert we were considering, if the power goes out so does the heat. Hasn't happened yet, though. I used to keep the house warm in summer/cool in winter to save money, but now I keep it extremely comfortable all year and it doesn't affect my bill. I love walking into my house and having it so cool in summer or warm in winter. Just feels like luxury to me :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 We LOVE the idea of geothermal... We had a geothermal unit installed when we built our current home. The company claimed that they had several installations in our area with happy clients. We read RAVE reviews and even talked to someone who had the same unit we wanted. Well, to make a long story short, our unit lasted about 3 years and the energy savings were minimal-- not enough to compensate for the unit only lasting 3 years!!! The company came out once in a futile attempt to make it work for us-- but after one very uncomfortable year the whole thing failed. In the end the company decided that we did not have the correct soil type --even though they originally said ours was fine!!!!-- our soil was too rocky. We were out of luck since the 'warranty' had expired. They wanted $10,000 to replace the original unit. We ended up having 2 conventional units (heat pumps) installed and our electric bills went DOWN! If you decided on Geothermal-- make sure that they can guarantee that your soil type is appropriate. It was a very costly 'experiment' for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethG Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 We LOVE the idea of geothermal... We had a geothermal unit installed when we built our current home. The company claimed that they had several installations in our area with happy clients. We read RAVE reviews and even talked to someone who had the same unit we wanted. Well, to make a long story short, our unit lasted about 3 years and the energy savings were minimal-- not enough to compensate for the unit only lasting 3 years!!! The company came out once in a futile attempt to make it work for us-- but after one very uncomfortable year the whole thing failed. In the end the company decided that we did not have the correct soil type --even though they originally said ours was fine!!!!-- our soil was too rocky. We were out of luck since the 'warranty' had expired. They wanted $10,000 to replace the original unit. We ended up having 2 conventional units (heat pumps) installed and our electric bills went DOWN! If you decided on Geothermal-- make sure that they can guarantee that your soil type is appropriate. It was a very costly 'experiment' for us. Y'OUCH!!!! Which area of TX are you in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethG Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 :bigear:;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Hillcountry-- between Austin and San Antonio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethG Posted October 1, 2011 Author Share Posted October 1, 2011 :bigear:another bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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