Gas or electric backup to geothermal?

[Boiled Owl]

I have been quoted 18,000 for the system installed including sizing and ductwork in the crawlspace. Its a 2200 square foot ranch now, but the quote was for a two story house 2800 square feet, w/ the upstairs zoned seperatly. My quote SHOULD come down w/ the new floor plan.

Also, the neighbor next door has kept his AC set on 70 all summer and 90 bucks was his highest electric bill so far.

I think I will be going all electric based on the advice in this thread.

Sounds like a decent price. Several ?
Make of equip?
Size of unit?
Variable speed on the air handler?
vertical or horizontal loops?

My install was a be-otch!

 

[IndyGunworks]

Horizontal loops, not sure of size, but it was whatever he thought was the best.... water furnace brand. This will be on new construction. Hoping it will be cheaper now that I don't need to zone, have dropped 500 square feet, only have one story, and will not need gas backup.

 

[foszoe]

For a horizontal loop figure 950 -1050$ per 100 feet. Cost swings a little based on how far they have to drive to get to your house. Figure 100 feet / ton on the system, minimum. I went 700 feet for a 5 ton unit with two stages. Recommend two stage especially if your house has a small cooling needs. For example my house sits in the middle of a bunch of trees and the direct heating from the sun is fairly small. Unit doesn't come out of first stage on cooling.

Anyway the bottom line for me, at $1000 / 100 ft was 7000 for the loop and 15000 for a 5 ton 2 stage unit with super heat loop for water heater, an add on whole house humidifer with water filter system, and a HEPA bypass air filtration system, installation of floor vents and accompanying ductwork.

 

[IndyGunworks]

Just looked it up, w/out zoning the price would be 16,500 for a 3 ton system w/ two stage compressor, variable fan, and 1800 feet of line.

 

[DocIndy]

We have subcontracted Indiana Geothermal to do loop work for us and the price was very reasonable. Have you checked with them?

 

[IndyGunworks]

Do they do the whole install or just the loop?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Do they do the whole install or just the loop?

They just did the loop for mine.

Mentioned above, my backup heat circuit breakers are turned off too and never noticed a problem last year (our first season).

$90 sounds awfully cheap--must not be on a REMC

 

[hornadylnl]

They just did the loop for mine.

Mentioned above, my backup heat circuit breakers are turned off too and never noticed a problem last year (our first season).

$90 sounds awfully cheap--must not be on a REMC

My remc charges a $28 fee every month whether I use 1kwh or a 1000. They're about 30% higher than my old municipal utility.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

My remc charges a $28 fee every month whether I use 1kwh or a 1000. They're about 30% higher than my old municipal utility.

The last I checked, the "all-in" cost per KWH (I forget how many kwh's I assumed to be used) is approx. $0.13/kwh. This includes taxes, fuel surcharges, etc.

 

[hornadylnl]

The last I checked, the "all-in" cost per KWH (I forget how many kwh's I assumed to be used) is approx. $0.13/kwh. This includes taxes, fuel surcharges, etc.

That's about where I'm at. The city utility at my old house was about 8 to 9 cents. At least out here I'm not paying the $40 and rising sewer bill.

 

[Trigger Time]

Go electric. Take this from someone with family who has it.

 

[the1kidd03]

I vote all electric too.

Geothermal will save you $$$.

With all electric you could even expand later on to install some "clean" energy sources to help save even more.

We just moved into our new house last weekend. Some of you guys are really making me look forward to the REMC bills ahead......

 

[slackerisme]

IIRC, it's been 8 years since we installed ours; the whole thing was a bit of a catch 22. We have a dual zone two compressor unit with electric backup heat. We do not have access to gas so it would have had to been LP for our gas. The electric option was much cheaper to install originally, but we were told, that IF we ever need it, it would be expensive to run.

We have needed it three times in eight seasons. It was called on more often then that, but I usually leave the breaker off. Only after the better half gets past the whining stage and well into the in going to hurt you stage do I turn the breakers on. When I do AEP calls and thanks me.

You will be basically heating your house with an enormous toaster at that point. The back-up heat we have consists of a hundred or so Ni-chrome/kanthal wires running back and forth between two plates. They are high resistance and try to stop the flow of electricity, generating heat. The basic function of this unit is to use electricity as inefficiently as possible, by design....

I wish I had gone LP for the backup. Otherwise I could not be happier with the Geo.

Edit: spelling

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

If I may thread jack a bit...Ours has a huge air filter (as compared to the 20x20x1 the old heat pump had). How often do you geo owners change yours out. They're hard to find and about $47 ea.

 

[buffalohump]

I vote electric & I hate Duke Energy. I Have a Florida heat pump electric backup open loop, 'bout 6-7 yrs now & love it tax break , total ele break, buffalo drink the water from pond & turn it yellow. (recycle water )

 

[hornadylnl]

If I may thread jack a bit...Ours has a huge air filter (as compared to the 20x20x1 the old heat pump had). How often do you geo owners change yours out. They're hard to find and about $47 ea.

I change mine every 3 months and order them from this place.
Accumulair Filters | Filters-NOW.com

I order about 6 at a time and usually can find a coupon code online to get free shipping. I think you can custom order any size you want but they have a huge selection of oddball sizes already. I think I use the Accumulair platinum merv 11 series. IIRC, I paid about $80 for 6 filters shipped.

 

[foszoe]

If I may thread jack a bit...Ours has a huge air filter (as compared to the 20x20x1 the old heat pump had). How often do you geo owners change yours out. They're hard to find and about $47 ea.

amazon.com baby. get about 3 for the price you are paying for 1. Amazon


Hmmm they changed the quantity from 3 to one from my last order, gotta go eat sushi. See if I can find the one on my last order from them where I got 3 for 66$

 

[churchmouse]

IIRC, it's been 8 years since we installed ours; the whole thing was a bit of a catch 22. We have a dual zone two compressor unit with electric backup heat. We do not have access to gas so it would have had to been LP for our gas. The electric option was much cheaper to install originally, but we were told, that IF we ever need it, it would be expensive to run.

We have needed it three times in eight seasons. It was called on more often then that, but I usually leave the breaker off. Only after the better half gets past the whining stage and well into the in going to hurt you stage do I turn the breakers on. When I do AEP calls and thanks me.

You will be basically heating your house with an enormous toaster at that point. The back-up heat we have consists of a hundred or so Ni-chrome/kanthal wires running back and forth between two plates. They are high resistance and try to stop the flow of electricity, generating heat. The basic function of this unit is to use electricity as inefficiently as possible, by design....

I wish I had gone LP for the backup. Otherwise I could not be happier with the Geo.

Edit: spelling

You are wasting energy by waiting until the house is a walk in cooler. All the banks fire up and try to catch up while spinning the meter off the back of the house. If you let the system run as designed and installed (if done properly) you will slowly stage in part of those hundred or so wires applying heat is small stages. If let run (breakers on) you may only run 1 bank to heat the house leaving the remaining banks static.
Try it next winter. You will have a steady flow of heat and not "Spike" the meter.

 

[IndyGunworks]

that's my understanding as well, that geo is supposed to be ran non stop in order to be the most efficient. Kind of counter intuitive but that's the way it is.

 

[the1kidd03]

So, what kind of horrific electric bills have you REMC guys seen?

Now you all have my curiosity peaked as to what I have to look forward to. We just moved into our new home last week which is served by REMC.