Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Geothermal Heat Pumps

Anybody have any experience with Geothermal Heat Pumps? I'm building a new house in Maryland and am looking at it as an alternative to all electric. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Ticket

If installed and maintained correctly it will be the best choice you could possibly make.

I am in the process of having a Climatemaster geothermal system installed right now. It is the same system that my brother had installed in his house 3 years ago. He has had great success with the sytem, low heat bills, excellent cooling and the excess heat is used to heat domestic hot water. The loops were just installed in the ground last Monday and the pump is to be installed in two weeks. The installer will not start up the system until all the drywall is completed, the painting and woodwork is done.

I live up in Canada and was assured that this unit will meet all my heating and cooling needs.

I have a WaterFurnace. The previous advice is sage. Get lots of recs on whoever you have do your ground loop. It is a big investment that can pay off handsomely if done right or become a giant pain if done poorly. My ground loop appears to be woefully undersized (I am already sending out 31 degree water/methanol and this is only December). From my understanding at this point that means my WaterFurnace is doing a great job but its efficiency (and total btu's) are steadily falling due to a wimpy ground loop. Not looking forward to January and February nor the likely expense next year of finding someone capable of upgrading my ground loop.

I would still recommend going for it (assuming you find a reliable installer). Even in my sad scenario, I get a COP of about 3 for the portion of my heat that is carried by my heat pump and then the resistance heaters kick in to cover the shortfall. In past years this mix might have been poor relative to oil but this year it looks like I will come out ahead given our electric and oil/propane prices.

As you are comparing to pure resistance it seems like a no-brainer if you intend to be in the house more than 4 years.

One other piece of advice. Be careful who you let service your system. As great an idea as these things are it is startling how little most HVAC people know about them. I could go on for pages with the various plans some of these guys have come up with to "fix" my system.

We are into our 3rd winter heating with a geothermal heat pump. Performance has been better than anticipated. Savings over our old oil system are about 75% le$$! We’re in Canada. Winters can be brutal at times. It works equally as well in the A/C mode. In hindsight, I cannot imagine any renovation, other than the adaptation of a dwelling for a handicapped person, that could possibly be as worth while.

Here is a link to a site that may be useful:

http://how-efficient-is-it-magazine.com

I agree, I have been installing geothermals for 9 years and the installer more than the machine matters. There is not much difference in models but there are endless ways to install them. Get someone with tons of experience.