Is geothermal heat right for you? If you are looking to upgrade your heating system and being 'earth-friendly' is important to you, then you will be considering geothermal as an alternative.
The basics of geothermal is to tap into the earth's constant temperature and use this to heat and cool your home. By running an intricate system of water pipes you can heat or cool the water to a consistent 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) and transfer it to your home heating/cooling system.
The issue for geothermal is not whether it is earth-friendly. It is much better than our conventional home heating and cooling sources. The carbon impact is greatly reduced, and you will have a significant reduction in gas/oil/electric charges. The system does not require any chemicals, such as R11,R12, or R134A to ensure your home stays cool in the summer months. In the winter months, your furnace is only needed to bring the temperature up to a comfortable temperature, 5 degrees centigrade of heating.
With these in mind your are helping the environment a tremendous amount and reducing your heating and cooling charges.
So why are we not all converting our homes to geo-thermal heat?
The answer comes to cost. It is expensive to introduce this system, whether you are building new or upgrading your current system, your are going to spend an average of $35 000 (this is an average, for accurate cost consult your local contractor.) For most it is a cost that is out of reach. It does not increase the monetary value of your home, so you need to consider how long it will take to pay the system off.
Based on my home (which has electric heat) and my neighbors home (which has geo-thermal) I compared our respective electric bills over this past winter. For background I live in Manitoba, Canada. Our average winter temperature is -18 degrees celcius (0 F) with wind chill indexes of -30 C (-22 F). Their home is not yet a year old and 1450 square feet with no basement. Mine was built in 1988, is 2500 square feet and has no basement.
Over this past winter (2008/2009), my average electrical bill was $367. Their average electrical bill was $154. Removing the fact that my home is larger and I have one extra person living in the house, I am going to look at how long it would take me to pay for a geo-thermal system.
With a difference in monthly bills of $213 dollars, and the average cost of geothermal at $35 000, it would take me 164 months to break even with the system. (This is based on current expenses, and does not factor in that electrical and gas bills will be increasing in the future). 164 months is 13.5 years before I can start to realize any savings.
The chances of me living in this house in 13.5 years is slim, it is reported that most people move every 5 to 8 years, that being the case, I would not recoup my expenses on the geo-thermal system.
What choices do we have then?
Consider yourself and your family. Will you be living in your present home for the next 15 years or more. If yes, then geo-thermal is definitely a choice you can consider. If no, then you probably won't put in the geo-thermal system as you will not pay for the system by the time you move.
Are there alternatives to geothermal? Yes you have other methods of making an earth-friendly home. You may wish to look into solar or wind power to 'get off the grid'.
Whenever the discussion of being more environmentally conscience comes up, we have a lot of experts telling us what we should do, but few of them consider the cost. As an average citizen of the world, we want to reduce our consumption, but at the same time we need to think of our budgets. If geothermal is not within your budget, then research to see what other choices you may have.
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