Benefits of Geothermal Technology

Comfortable

Homeowners who use geothermal heat pump give them superior ratings because of their ability to supreme comfort, even on the coldest winter nights or steamiest summer days.  Whether your home uses radiant or forced air heat delivery systems, the constant temperature of the earth and state of the art design of heat pumps allow for the delivery of consistent temperatures allowing the occupants to experience thermal bliss. 

Folks who have lived with central air conditioning are aware of its esthetic trade-off.  While the units are providing comfortable inside – their evaporators are noisily whizzing in an attempt to shed heat in the back yard.  Because our geothermal systems shed their heat deep in the earth – you won’t hear a thing as you enjoy a cool beverage on your back porch or deck.    

Clean

Geothermal technology does not require the combustion of hazardous fuels.  "Traditional" combustion-based furnaces use oil, propane, natural gas or wood as a fuel source.  In addition to the obvious carbon dioxide emissions, this combustion process results in the creation carbon monoxide (a deadly odorless gas) if the systems are not carefully maintained and vented.  Depending on the fuel, the combustion process can also generate cancerous polyaromatic hydrocarbons and noxious fumes.  The persistent safety problems with combustion technologies has resulted in many states adopting building codes requiring sensing devices in close proximity to furnaces and other combustion-based devices.  Why not eliminate the risk entirely? 

Care-free

Geothermal heat pumps are sublimely simple in their design.  The ground-loops are sealed and never require maintenance.  The work horse of the systems is the compressor - which is usually a slightly larger version of the reliable compressor which cools your refrigerator.  This equipment has been made in the same US factories for decades and often lasts for 20 years or more.  The heat delivery systems used by geothermal systems are no different traditional systems (forced air systems require periodic cleaning or changing of air filters.  

Safety

Aside from wood – traditional fuels are inherently dangerous.  Propane and natural gas are explosive, and prone to infrequent but deadly accidents.  Fuel oil is not explosive, but is hazardous and becomes an environmental hazard when leaked from tanks or faulty burners.  The relative frequency of these leaks (several hundred homes in Massachusetts each year) and extreme costs to clean them up ($15,000-$250,000) prompted the Commonwealth to require home-owners to upgrade their fuel storage systems. (http://www.mass.gov/dep/cleanup/laws/hhsl.htm)

In contrast to this – our geothermal systems use water, a non-toxic antifreeze in a closed loop and or a small volume of ozone friendly refrigerant sealed in copper.  

Financially Secure

The breakeven period for a geothermal investment depends on the alternatives to which one compares it.  State and Federal tax credits certainly help.  In comparison to delivered fuels (fuel oil and propane) at today’s prices the payback period is 5-7 yrs.  Of course, that assumes that today’s prices are tomorrow’s prices.  The price volatility of petroleum and propane has been so extreme during the last 10 years, that it has made any effort to predict future costs futile.  The best minds in the financial industry have consistently been unable to predict the demand shifts related to the economic growth of Brazil, Russia, China, and India, and the supply disruptions related to extreme weather and the unstable regimes that control global energy reserves.    

Because geothermal systems rely on electricity to power its equipment, your annul heating and cooling bills are far more predictable.  The price of electricity is heavily regulated and is not subject to the same extreme fluctuations as petroleum.  And because these systems yield 4 units of heat for every unit of power consumed – the impact of increased power costs are dramatically cut in an inflationary environment.

The Right Thing to Do

Our country has been at war, almost uninterrupted, for more than 20 years in an effort to defend access to affordable oil.  Thousands of our sons and daughters have sacrificed their lives, and thousands more have sacrificed their health.  Hundreds of thousands of residents of Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya have been displaced or killed. We have “invested” more than $3 trillion of our treasury in these efforts and the enhanced security efforts associated with these wars. 

The Northeastern US is the largest consumer of fuel oil, with 6.3 million homes reliant on this heat source.  And additional 2 million homes are reliant on propane. It imports and burns 5,300,000,000 gallons of fuel oil and 780,000,000 gallons of propane for heat each year. At $3.50 a gallon, this region is exporting $21 billion of its wealth annually.  

Geothermal heating is the most efficient technology available.  It results in your heating dollars being invested in your local economy, reduces your family’s carbon foot print, and reduces our nation’s reliance on foreign fuel reserves.