Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Residential geothermal

Anyone here install a residential geothermal cool/heat setup? Care to share the plus and minus of it?

I haven't myself but a former boss bought a house with a very simple heating system. He had a hot water artesian spring. The house had the ductwork for forced air but no furnace. It basically had a large truck radiator and the hot water circulated through it. A fan forced the air through the radiator and the ductwork. The fan was operated by a thermostat. It was that simple.
After the water went through the radiator, it continued through pipes under the driveway to keep it clear of snow. That worked very well, too. In the summer, he just turned a valve to shut off the water flow.

We have 2 units in our house. Replaced 1 a couple years ago. Other unit is about due.

Have owned this house for 16 years. Original unit is about 25 years old.

As a homeowner, I could answer questions if you have them.

I live in the mountains of Western Maryland. I have a 5 ton Climate Master. I purchased the house 6 years ago and the system was 8 years old at the time. In that time I replaced the (1) horsepower fan motor ( ECM type) that had to be programmed due to having a built in VFD. Other than that no problems.
The install price is significant due to the wells (I have 5) but since someone else absorbed that cost I and very please. The discharge temp on the AC is frigid. I have electric heat for emergency but it rarely pulls in. Another neat feature is the domestic hot water utilizes the heat from the compressor to preheat the water.

Looked at installing geotherm in a house we built many years ago, but the inrush current requirements were more than my portable generator could manage. Standalone gen sets 30 years later eliminates that issue, but something to consider if you lose power alot. A skimpy 4K generator powers my traditional hot air furnace.