NC Iowa | ekeller2 - 3/24/2011 12:03
Anyone built a house recently and priced geo thermal vs Propane heat? Is there a tax credit for geothermal this year? I recently talked to me heat/ac guy, and im looking at 10-11K for a 95% effecient heater/2 stage ac unit, duct work, and labor, for a 2300 sq ft new house. I am scared to even ask what geothermal would run! Do they really save that much on the heat/cool bill each month? Alot of my relatives have them, but their power bills seem pretty high, im guessing from pumping water? Thanks
i got a geo quote for my 1500sqft house. pump and dump (cheapest) for around 24k. i went with a 90+ lp furnace with air for around 10k including ducts. with a new tight icf formed basement walls, heat loss wasn't a big factor. many reasons i didn't go geo. i didn't see the quick payback as i had a small well insulated home. i was doing the home on a cash basis, and the extra money could be used somewhere else. the rec did have a loan program, but they wanted a lien on the home, and in this case the whole farm, and i would no way do that. i didn't want to be cold and helpless in the winter if something ever happened to the 'grid' as in japan right now. i can hold 2 years of house lp in my tank. geo might add some resale value to the house, but i sure wouldn't look for a 100% return. not going to sell anyway. neighbor has a pump and dump system, and it takes 6 gal a minute. he tells about his low heating cost, but the well pump is on the regular rate meter, and never mentions that. i am not against geo, but after careful consideration, i decided to just go with regular lp. if i had a 5000+ sqft home i am sure geo would have looked better.
in your area, the ac cost saving might be more or a consideration that heat costs. just depends how you use it.
edit. assuming i got all the 30% tax credit, would still been 7k higher. my experience with hopping through all the hoops of government programs is not that great.
Edited by gene_champ 3/26/2011 13:02
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Geo thermal vs Propane heater
