Discussions

Just wondering why we very seldom see new homes with geothermal heating now? It can't be the price since anyone spending over half a million on a home probably wouldn't be concerned.

i know of several in brandon who have it (including my own!). where are you expecting to see the system? when someone is selling a house? perhaps those who are building with the intent to sell short-term aren't installing the system as they wouldnt expect to see a return on that investment. perhaps it's those who build their forever home who are investing in it so they can see the return over time.

It seems strange to me if it really is such a good system. And I realize that builders are out to build cheap. However We are looking to buy in the Winnipeg area where homes range from 700K which is very low to well over a million. None of them have geothermal, yet they put in a lot of useless glittery things that have no value.

I've looked into it a couple of times. The second time was when there was government money to access but the total was actually even higher in the end. It's quite expensive and the equipment is more complicated.  
 
Heat pumps may be the way to go although it may be too cold on the prairies? although I'm told heat pump with a furnace back up during cold snaps would be the way to go.

geo-thermal is almost five times the cost of a gas furnace, and will not last long enough to even hit the break even point. want to save money on energy costs......insulation and lots of it

no, it is not 5x the price. and yes, you can see your money back over time. i gave geothermal and heat 4000sf of space with an electric furnace and infloor heat in 3000sf and pay less than $200/month on equal payments.

We have geothermal and it was no where close to 5 times to price of a regular furnace. Furnaces nowadays can be pricey as well depending on efficiency.  
 
Also you have to consider the government incentives, which gives back quite a bit of money come tax time.  
 
We heat our 1600sq.ft home. Consistently at 23C in winter time, and around 22C in summer. If you average out the whole year, we're about $175/month.

Not sure of todays cost to install but..  
Have had Geo for 19 years, cost to install was $18,000  
(think it was 2 or 3 times Regular Furnace cost)  
Average Hydro Daily cost for 19 years is $5.29  
Average Hydro Monthly cost for 19 years is $171.  
Average Hydro Daily cost last 10 years is $8  
Average Hydro Monthly cost last 10 years is $242.  
Used in 19 years 425795 Kw’s  
Spent $900 on service (no filters has permanent ElectoStatic Filter)  
Estimate have saved 2/3 or $80,000 in heat costs  
Initial Cost was large, but has paid off I believe

Still leaves me wondering why a builder won’t put it in a new house. I would think it would make the new home more attractive. Of course maybe housing is in such demand, homes don’t need to be made more attractive.