WaterFurnace geothermal

[DarthBane]

As I consider replacing my existing furnace and A/C, I guess I should also consider looking into geothermal units. Specifically the geothermal units from WaterFurnace. I have a fairly large lot and plenty of room for a pipe system. From what I hear, costs about $ (CDN) and I should get back about $9-10k from government... So net $..New furnace from Carrier or Trane will be about $ installed... I suppose the $ difference could be justified as I plan on staying in the house for another 10 years or so..Plus, I would think a geothermal system is a good "resale" feature even if we had to sell.

My concern is that the units might not get hot enough in winter nor cool enuff in summer Do you think my climate (Toronto) is ideal for geothermal? Any issues about the WaterFurnace system that I should think about?

[jerryd_2008]

The moderators aren't going to like your cost info. But that is a very impressive government credit.

Your contractor or distributor should be able to give you 3+ references in your exact area with the exact same or very similar systems. Ask them if geo works for them. I would also ask about any problems they have had.

Be sure that you run the numbers based on actual proposals to see how long it will take you to recover the premium you would be paying. I did this for geo proposals versus a high end DFHP taking into consideration our energy life style. Wouldn't recover it in my lifetime probably. And I was biased towards geo with hot water recovery.

There have been some posts on this forum that provided ground temp data for various locals. This is a big factor.

I would make sure that your contractor is very experienced with geo. This isn't your normal tech expertise and there definitely seem to be major issues when not designed and installed properly.

Here is a web site for a gung ho geo advocate who is an architect and long-term energy consultant: www.dougrye.com. Do your research before leaping.

PS: My understanding is that a lot of Toronto is actually cooled by geo, but they use Lake Ontario as the heat/cooling source.

[DarthBane]

oops... I'm a noob..so I apologize in advance to the moderators. Thanks for the heads up.

[beenthere]

Removed price references, and moved to residential geo forum

[tjrobb]

As the climates are different I cannot comment on performance, but my grandma has a WF in her basement (she lives in southern Iowa). Overall I don't believe she has any issues with the unit, and it is quiet enough to be located in a bedroom (I actually slept fine only 15' away from the unit, a vertical model designed for ~2000sf that sits in the corner of the room).