3 ms·
Ground source heat pumps have become popular in the past 10-20 years. Natural gas has historically been cheap enough that replacing it may not be cost-effective
by jltsiren 4y ago
Ground source heat pumps have become popular in the past 10-20 years. Natural gas has historically been cheap enough that replacing it may not be cost-effective if your house is connected to a gas grid. When replacing other heating sources, a ground source heat pump typically pays itself back in 5-10 years.
- zdragnar 4y agoMost homes with natural gas don't have enough space for a horizontal system, and vertical systems are very cost prohibitive. When you do have land, your horizontal space now is also being used up by a septic system. It's great if you can do it, but on the whole I suspect ground source is always going to be an expensive and difficult proposition for most people.
- jltsiren 4y agoBased on a quick search, the typical costs for installing a vertical system to a single-family home are 15k to 25k euros in Finland. The contractors I found seem to discourage horizontal installations unless the bedrock is unusually deep. Drilling bedrock is cheap, while horizontal pipes have to be much longer, because the ground gets cold in the winter.
- zdragnar 4y agoOdd, here drilling far eclipses excavation costs. Horizontal systems just need a backhoe to install, as you only need to dig below the frost line (we also get down to about -40 in winter). Vertical drilling requires more specialized equipment and so is more costly. Vertical systems are about $10k more expensive than higher end horizontal systems.