While working the WaterFurnace booth at this year’s home show it has become apparent to those of us at Sensible Heating & Cooling that there a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to geothermal heating and cooling. We wanted to just take a moment and tell you why geothermal systems truly are the wave of the future, and an important advance in residential climate control.
The most obvious reason to install a geothermal system is to reduce your energy consumption, however, there are a lot of little known benefits as well. One of the most interesting benefits is that geothermal systems allow you to transform your home from depending on gas to depending on electricity (or sustainable energy). The important thing about using electricity instead of gas is that we can reproduce electricity via solar panels, wind turbines, etc. Homes of the future should be 100% electricity. Through the use of geothermal heat pumps these homes will be just as comfortable if not more comfortable than homes with conventional HVAC equipment.
Secondly, geothermal systems provide home heating without a combustion process. In the HVAC industry, carbon monoxide poisoning is one of our biggest fears. Just recently there was a situation in a mall where 27 people were sickened and 1 man was killed when there was a carbon monoxide leak from a basement water heater. This is not an isolated event and happens all across our country. Geothermal systems provide comfortable heating and hot water with zero risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The next reason is highly debatable but should be mentioned in this conversation: Global Warming. Whether or not global warming is a true issue is not the point – the point is that it isn’t necessary to take the chance that it could be scientific truth. We may never know for sure the validity of it all until it’s too late. At Sensible Heating we believe that we have a responsibility to be good stewards and leave things in the same condition as we found them. Geothermal systems play a key role in creating net-zero homes and lowering our overall footprint.
The fourth benefit offered by geothermal heat pumps is that they are very dependable and offer extended life expectancies over conventional equipment. The average furnace and air conditioner lasts between 15-18 years vs. geo units that see around 25 years as an average life expectancy. This means fewer replacements and less material use. We have installed countless geothermal systems that have proven to be dependable over the long run and require no extra maintenance or repairs as compared to conventional equipment.
Finally, the most well known benefit is it can save you a ton of money through a large energy reduction. At Sensible Heating, we have seen expected savings of up to 70%. In many cases we have demonstrated less than a 5 year total payback, which is phenomenal! With gas prices on the rise and the federal energy tax credit due to expire soon there is no better time. We should take advantage while the prices are still affordable. Gas prices have doubled over the last couple months and will most likely continue to rise from here. The longer the delay, the more money lost.
The current tax credit offers a 30% return on the total installation cost which helps ease the initial investment. Although we have heard the argument that the tax credit will expire in 2016, and with it the installation of geothermal systems, we believe that even without the additional incentive, geothermal systems will far outlast the tax credits because of the extensive list of benefits to homeowners. WaterFurnace geothermal systems offer unparalleled performance and reward their owners every time they open their utility bill.
For more information on geothermal or to schedule your free estimate, call us today! Owner Dan Schmied can be reached at 720.876.7166 or via email at [email protected].
