Geothermal energy for a house

[Brian Elfert]

I don't think open loop systems are even legal in the state of Minnesota any more. I know new commercial open loop systems were outlawed in the late 90s and they all had to be replaced by 2012 or 2013.

My current house has natural gas heat and central A/C that were installed in 2001 when the house was built. Since my house is newer it has to meet some pretty strict energy codes. For a 2,700 square foot home I pay about $1700 a year for both electric and gas combined. If I thought I wanted to stay in this house long term I would consider geothermal before the tax credits expire in 2016. I run the A/C at 75 degrees all summer long from about June 1 to about Sept 15th. I don't open the windows because some sort of bugs come right through the screens when I do.

[David G Baker]

Brian E.
This is off topic but may help you with your bugs coming through your window screens. There is a screen called "NOSEEUM". The screen is not well known even by window installers. The mesh on the screen is much smaller than most of your standard screen. Do a Google search to get the information if you are interested. I am slowly having my windows replaced and when I replace them I demand the noseeum screen. I could save some money if I had just the windows that I open for a cross breeze have the noseeum screen on them but I have it on every replacement. I still get some of the tiny critters that like to bite or suck blood in my house but I think they come in on clothing or through doors when they are opened. The only way I can see them is when they fly past my computer screen. They are tiny.

[Brian Elfert]

Brian E.
This is off topic but may help you with your bugs coming through your window screens. There is a screen called "NOSEEUM". The screen is not well known even by window installers. The mesh on the screen is much smaller than most of your standard screen. Do a Google search to get the information if you are interested. I am slowly having my windows replaced and when I replace them I demand the noseeum screen. I could save some money if I had just the windows that I open for a cross breeze have the noseeum screen on them but I have it on every replacement. I still get some of the tiny critters that like to bite or suck blood in my house but I think they come in on clothing or through doors when they are opened. The only way I can see them is when they fly past my computer screen. They are tiny.

I have Andersen Windows and they do offer some fairly new screens that have stainless steel mesh to keep out the smaller bugs. I haven't done it because of cost and being lazy I guess. I can get Andersen accessories 50% off, but they still aren't cheap. The cost of running the A/C all summer long just isn't that much for my house so I haven't worried too much about it. Maybe this will be the year I buy the screens.

[Mel Fulks]

Monticello has some tunnel thing that brought ground cooled air in during summer. They don't make a big deal of it ,but if you ask,they will tell you where to see it.

[Greg Portland]

Compared to what?

Compared to other efficient options. I'm saying spend a few hours with Excel before you drop $10k+ on -any- HVAC system. You're not going to "make back" $25k but you -might- make enough to pay back the cost delta over a high efficiency gas furnace and heat pump. For my locale it made sense to spend $4k more for a high efficiency option but it didn't make sense to spend $14k more for geo thermal. Climate and house construction makes a huge difference... definitely run your own numbers.

[David Weaver]

It pencils out for BIL. IT wouldn't for me. I heat 1600 sf for about $750 a year because of my locality to cheap gas.

My BIL heats closer to 4k sq feet and it was costing him about 3k or a little more on propane. His total installed cost was 20k (for a system that has three vertical wells as opposed to lateral) less whatever credits were available, so I guess it was about $14k.

I don't know if it also makes his A/C cheaper, I guess it probably does.

His price might be a little cheaper than you can get it done in Oregon, that's the magic of mennonite owned businesses where he lives.

[David Weaver]

Monticello has some tunnel thing that brought ground cooled air in during summer. They don't make a big deal of it ,but if you ask,they will tell you where to see it.

This always seemed like a logical thing to do to me. When I was little, I used to wonder why you couldn't just dig a hole in the ground and blow air through it. I guess it's technically not quite that easy, but I sure wish it was.

[Brian Elfert]

Air conditioning is also cheaper because the ground is usually around 55 degrees which is a lot cooler than outside air when air conditioning is needed.