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Gold/Mining/Energy : Peak Oil, or Oil Bubble? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rock_nj who wrote (165)	7/4/2008 1:25:02 PM
From: Cal Amari	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 229

RE Geothermal - I got a quote to install a geothermal HVAC retrofit system in central North Carolina in my existing 4400 sq foot home with two zones. Cost included drilling to install vertical heat exchangers (which is $5K more expensive than excavation with backhoes for horizontal exchangers, such as would be suitable for new construction). The quote was $36K. Ouch. Out of my budget at the moment. Still need to gather comparative quotes for high efficiency heat pump systems (with furnace backup) to replace my conventional HVAC system, with one exchanger unit in the crawlspace and another in the attic. I am guessing that the cost with new soft ducting will be on the order of $12-14K. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised with a lower cost. The geothermal guy suggests that his system has a longer "efficient useful life" of about 20 years, compared to about 10 years for a conventional air-air system. I am unsure whether that is correct. Problem is, the up-front incremental cost of approx $23-24K for the geothermal system could pay for an over 2000 watt solar system (installed). Decisions...