Geo thermal heating / cooling Tell me what you know about it

[colonial carpentry]

I am building a home where natural gas is not available,I am seriously considering Geo Thermal.I have a lot that is a little over 2 acres so i am planning to do the coil loop system.Does anyone on this site have geo thermal heating/cooling and water heater.I am still in the planning stages on this so any info will be appreciated.I guess what i am looking for are the pros and cons and any horror stories anyone may have to share on this topic.

[Rich]

Interesting topic.. I've only heard about geo thermal systems.. never seen plans or one in action.

[colonial carpentry]

The neighbouring lot to mine has a log cabin built on it and the guy says that his heating/cooling and hot water tank all run on the geo thermal system. he said that the electric company gives geo thermal users a break on the electric bill as an incentive to convert to or build with geo thermal.He averages about 200$ per month on his electric bill,last winter i was paying over 300$ amonth just for the gas bill where i am now!

[mjpliv]

A properly installed geo-thermal heat exchanger is very efficient. Another bonus is that all of the components are located inside as opposed to the normal air-to-air system. The capital investment is a little higher. The one big advantage of the geo-thermal system is that it is much less sensitive to the ambient air temperature meaning you may not require a backup heating system for those really cold days.

The most efficient of the geo-thermal systems actually uses two drilled wells. The temperatures at that depth only fluctuate a few degrees either way.

[Sparks]

From the reading I have done on geo-thermal the price seems to be the biggest issue. 30,000 dollars for a few I've read about. I don't recall the specifics but their not cheap, that's for sure. The other concern is to be certain the installing contractor (if you're using one) has experience in geo-thermal systems. Improper sizing of a geo-thermal system can be disasterous. Some systems I heard about are buried 300' under ground depending on the type used. Performance and efficiency are excellent when the system is engineered and installed properly.

[jbd6017]

M father-in-law just installed a horizontal system in a new house he built 2 years ago. The home is approx. 1850 sq. ft. and it cost him around $9000.00. So far he has not had any problems and one of our harshest winters year before last ( avaeraged 5-7 degrees for a month), his electric billed was around $225.00. During the summer it has averaged around $70 while temps remained around 90-95 degrees. I have been impressed and now building my own house this year, I am also installing a system. I have talked to a number of people that have the systems, and no one has had any real complaints and are very satisfied. In addition to show another example of its operation, during the construction process which was ending during the heart of winter, it would take the inside tempeture from around 25-30 degrees to near 70-75 degrees in around 10-15 minutes. Hope this info help. If you have any further questions, please let me know.

John