Geothermal Systems

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes, provided that the duct work is properly sized to support the air flow required and it is insulated. Uninsulated duct work will sweat heavily when in air conditioning mode.

  • Not usually. Baseboard requires a water temperature of at least 180 degrees Fahrenheit to heat your home using the usual ratio of baseboard length to BTU’s required. Geothermal can only heath the water to about 125 degrees, so you would need to add many feet of baseboard to make the plan work.

  • Geothermal heat pumps are readily adaptable for radiant heating. They can even use chilled water in the duct coil instead of Freon when in the cooling mode. Be aware though, adding radiant heat adds to installation costs as compared to doing the heating and cooling both through duct work.

  • We don’t. We us Freon compressed into a duct coil in the heating mode, or de-pressurized into the same coil in the cooling mode. This enables the equipment to operate as efficiently as if it were in a constant 40 to 50 degree environment.

  • Ledge is a very good conductor of heat. When we wish to transfer heat from the ground to the home or from the home to the ground, ledge is helpful, and the drilling rig is made to readily drill through it anyway. Where it can make things difficult is if it is in the wat of the trench from the house to the well.

  • No. Wells end about five feet below ground and the pipes turn and run horizontally through the foundation.

  • The heat load of the house determines the depth needed. Actually, it determines the length of hte underground heat exchanger needed. We then translate that length into one or more wells. We like to limit the depth of a single well to 450 feet, so if the heat load called for 900 feet of vertical heat exchanger, we would use two wells linked together. In general, the bigger the house, the more vertical heat exchangers (well) is required.

  • Yes, you can. This method may turn out to be cheaper, but only if the digging goes well or if you have exceptional resources for getting it done. The resulting system works just as well for either method.