Houses get 'green' geothermal systems

Dec 1 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Joan Garrett Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.

LeRoy German's wife is not too happy about tearing up the yard, but the grass wasn't growing that well anyway.

On Friday morning, a crew began digging in the the 71-year-old's front yard to install a geothermal heat pump, a system Mr. German believes will cut his power bill in half.

Rather than fixing the old heating and air-conditioning system in his 30-year-old house, Mr. German decided to shop for a new unit and said he first became interested in purchasing a geothermal system when he read online he would receive a $500 tax credit for installing the system.

"The numbers are pretty impressive to me," he said.

Engineered Services Co-operative, the business installing Mr. German's geothermal system, has found a niche selling geothermal heat pumps in the area.

The 2-year-old business based in Ringgold, Ga., which also sells traditional heating and air-conditioning systems, has installed 10 geothermal pumps and plans to put in eight more, said Tommy Bennett, a partner at Engineered Services Co-operative.

"We want to be the greenest air-conditioning company in Chattanooga," Mr. Bennett said.

Geothermal heat pumps heat and cool homes by exchanging heat with the ground rather than the air, Mr. Bennett said.

With a special connection, in the summer the geothermal heat pump can also use the excess heat from the ground and heat a home's water for free, he said.

According to the Geo Exchange, a geothermal heat pump consortium in Washington, D.C., geothermal heat pumps significantly reduce greenhouse gas and other air emissions. They also can save consumers nationwide nearly $750 million over the 20 years the equipment is running.

Homeowners can save between 30 to 70 percent of their heating costs and 20 to 50 percent of their cooling costs with geothermal heat pumps, according to the Geo Exchange.

For his 3,000-square-foot house, Mr. German said he is paying $13,000 for the entire geothermal system and installation, a price much higher than what he would be paying for a high-end traditional heating and air-conditioning system -- $7,000.

Though a geothermal system typically costs between a third and a half more than a traditional system, Richard Parsons, a partner and engineer at Engineered Services Co-operatives, said consumers save money on energy costs in the long term.

Mr. Parsons said geothermal systems pay themselves off in five to seven years.

E-mail Joan Garrett at jgarrett@timesfreepress.com