Geothermal Infrastructure Considerations

Besides the cost considerations I mentioned in my last blog post, there are also infrastructure considerations to take into account with geothermal. Do we want to bother with ducts and forced air? Or do we just want radiant heating (floor or otherwise)? If we want to take advantage of a geothermal system's ability to air condition, we would have to have ducts. But do we even actually care about that?

I have never had A/C at home (save for that one summer I lived in a desert), and I have to say I don't particularly care for it. There are only a handful of nights out of the year that I feel really uncomfortable, but for the most part that's only an issue when trying to sleep. When we get really desperate, we install a window A/C unit in the bedroom and that's sufficient. But even with the record high heat seen in 2012, we managed to get by with open windows and fans.

So right off the bat, if someone asked me whether I want A/C in my new house, my answer would be no. Even besides all the added cost and infrastructure required, I just don't even want it. I don't care about perceived luxury, or resale value. If I had an A/C system, I probably wouldn't even use it. I like having windows open and feeling fresh air flow through my house.

Which brings us back to geothermal. Half the reason why it is an advantageous system is because of the ability to reverse the cycle and air condition your house. If you were planning on replacing heating AND air conditioning with a geothermal system, then it's a total no-brainer. But really, we're only looking for an energy efficient, non-fossil fuel way to heat, not cool. Are all the costs ($, infrastructure) still worth it, then? If an entire geothermal system is comparable to the money costs of just heating, then it's not completely off the table yet. But if it's going to be more expensive money-wise on top of the added infrastructure (ducts, etc.), then I think we might want to explore other alternatives - such as, just go with electric heat and plan for a substantial solar voltaic system to offset those high costs. This requires a lot more investigation, and some number crunching. Stay tuned.

In some ways, geothermal parallels the concept of converting to a hybrid vehicle so you can feel less guilty about driving an oversized, inefficient SUV. When really, I'd rather just have the smaller car that's efficient and gets better gas mileage to begin with. (Well, really I want a fully electric car, but that's a whole different ballgame...)