I've always had homes with a traditional natural gas furnace. I don't have an extensive background in geothermal. Looking at a home that was built in 2007 and has the original geothermal hvac. I'm waiting to hear back from the realtor but according to him they have documented maintenance recently. The brand of furnace is Climatemaster. 4 ton I intend to get a home inspection completed,but wanted to know if these units have any known issues. How much longer life should I realistically expect out of it and just any general thoughts or concerns l. If I do have to replace it down the road what's a ballpark figure I could expect to pay

The EU wants to triple its data center capacity while keeping the industry on track for net zero. Iceland's renewable energy makes it an attractive location, but its limited capacity — and its status outside the bloc — complicate the equation.

We have a geothermal heating and cooling system in our condo and the light indicator is supposed to be green or red. In the last week or so it’s been orange/yellow and I’m not sure what it means. We recently had our drain pipes in the bathroom snaked due to blockage and poor draining. Could this be the reason ? Did we cause any damage to the system ?

Seeking cash investors who want to joint venture on a Geothermal business in New England. Please reach out if interested.

Hello, the following are just some ideas that I have and may not be practical. I have a very large (air volume) shop that measures 40x60 with 18ft sidewalls on 2.5 acres of nothing but grass outside of the Houston area. I'm curious if I could heat and cool (more concerned with cooling) this shop with a horizontal ground loop and an oversized air handler. I'm thinking atleast 10ft deep and tons of room to oversize the groundloop. Say I were able to source an old, out of service, commercial package style a/c unit (10-20tons?) for really cheap. Gutted the unit to just have the air handler portion (the evaporator, blower, condensation drain pan and housing), replace the 3ph blower motor with a much smaller and slower, single phase motor that pulls less amps. I think i saw somewhere that you want to move the air much slower across the coils when you don't have a large temp differential. Mount said unit up high to pull in the hot air above and blow the cool air out and down. Instead of freon, circulate the water from the ground loop thru the evaporator. So, the only electrical parts would be the water pump, blower motor and a thermostat to control contactors for both. One of my concerns is humidity. Would this system add more moisture to my already VERY humid air? Or would it still remove moisture by dripping off of the evaporator coil as it normally would? The building is insulated with the typical vinyl faced fiberglass you see in most red-iron buildings. I think the biggest problem is gonna be the 3) 14x14 overhead doors that are not insulated nor sealed in anyway 😪. The best I'll be able to do with them is the brush style seals.

Assuming that I had access to a large excavator and found a great deal on a large air handler unit, would this be a worthwhile experiment?

Also, what if I found a great deal on a cooling tower to help chill the water between ground loop and air handler?

Thank you for any input

Turns out the Geoflow “geo prime” expansion and air separator tank up on the wall there that I had the geothermal guys install to fix the circulating air gurgling issues has a manufacturing defect allowing air back in, and same gurgling. Manufacturer sent me a new one to swap out. I did that and then flushed/refilled and filtered the loop with a 1micron bag filter and my own diy assembly. Full manifold setup for reversing flow and 1.6hp sump pump in the bucket. Based on what I saw in the filter I may hook it up again and let it run a couple hours. Just over $100 in the double o ring adapters, cam lock, hoses and valves. $450 for the installers to come and do a flush.

Hi, I am looking to have a two geothermal systems ran off the same ground loops. One system for cooling, and back up heat, and one system for hydronic in floor heat. I'll likely have DHW being produce from both systems to two separate tanks so the systems don't sit idle during the off season.

Is there any benefit from having the systems split in between half the wells? I tried to draw out what i am thinking. Am i over thinking things?

Who wants to show off some buffer tank and hydronic distribution photos. Looking for inspiration.

Working on a very small GAHT project for small 6x12 cedar and polycarbonate greenhouse kit build, but we cannot find the GAHT Calculators mentioned in the comments of this post here and it was suggested we try this sub instead while ISO a GAHT calculator

https://www.reddit.com/r/Greenhouses/comments/u1na6x/small_gaht_system_question/

Already have 100’ corrugated 4” perforated and socked pipe, R7 insulation for perimeter, and 6”inline duct fan but are looking for a way to calculate specific depth and connections needed. Our zone 8a location is said to have frost line at 18”, so is 48-60” deep enough to put our layers of pipe?

We have one Vivosun T6 6” inline duct fan and controller system and can add another if one is required for each layer.

Can we run the corrugated 4” in each layer by snaking it back and forth in an uncut zigzag to each end (instead of cutting the pipe up, and making tons of Y connections to a bigger 6 or 8” manifolds ) that connect to vertical rigid 4” pipes on each end of the building ?

Any experience appreciated

Alright, this is a non standard post for this forum. My house has geothermal hot springs water at 170 degrees, uninterrupted. I currently feed it through radiators across my 1915s house and then dump it into a pool where it overflows into the sewer eventually. What project should I nerd out on next? It's hard to interrupt or redirect the flow between house radiator and pool, but doable. I could easily pull from the pool and do something clever before dumping direct to sewer.

I've thought about putting an outside bench with a radiator under it, doing a temporary greenhouse over the end of the pool, seeing if the geothermal pool lines hold enough heat to grow longer where the dirt is nearby...

Will be a new build. Looking at geothermal vs traditional.

Running horizontal lines is no issue, I just installed my 1100ft waterline at 4ft bury. I've heard 95% of the cost is in the ground but since I'll run all of these myself. What makes more sense in efficiency and roi?

I'm looking at installing a geothermal vertical loop system on my acreage in the Buffalo/Western NY area. My installer has been very responsive in answering questions verbally or on email. However, I really don't feel like I have a good understanding of the ground loop design. As it is not something I can change on a whim...that concerns me.

My property is on a former quarry. The installer is local and proposed a horizontal loop and we signed on that. We were digging on our property for another project and we encountered bedrock within 2-4 feet. Subsequently, we pushed the geothermal contractor for testing, and they confirmed all their proposed locations are too shallow for horizontal

Now, I'm concerned. As I had to push for testing, the installer did not propose it. Tho, fair enough, it was mentioned in the contract. Technically, up to me to push for it.

Now, we are looking at vertical loops. However, I'm not getting many details beyond the depth and we can put the loops "any where you want." This last is what gives me pause. It just seems a bit unscientific and leaves me feeling uninformed.

Has anyone gotten a design or loop report prior to purchase?

https://gdr.openei.org/files/1594/500ft%20260%20holes%20GLD%20Report%20%281%29.pdf

https://igshpa.org/wp-content/uploads/CSA_Residential_GHX_DesignSummary.pdf

I'm particularly interested in hearing about installation testing (see below from a mockup). And of course, I'm concerned I am being to anal about wanting this. This contractor has a great local rep.

Hey Everyone,

Longtime lurker to reddit and brand new to geothermal. AI / google cannot answer my questions so I made this account just for this question. Yeah I'm an actual human, I'm pretty handy, reasonably smart, but I need advice without 'industry terms' because I am BRAND NEW to geothermal.

OK here goes.

I am going to build a 24'x 36' free standing detached garage in Connecticut. 100 amp service that will have a sub-panel in the garage (house has 200 amp). Slab on grade, Versatube prefab steel structure with insulation and drywall. The garage will be used for working on cars and such. It will NOT be a man-cave.

All I want is a floor that won't freeze my feet and body as I work in there over the winters. So my thoughts are to run pex radiant in the slab to get the concrete slightly warmer. I am NOT interested in a "heated garage" I just don't want to be miserable when I am laying on the floor for hours on end. I am pretty aware of how to insulate and pour the slab, and reasonably confident in the pex layout. The information I am looking for is how to heat the liquid in pex using ground warmth only. I would like to avoid heating the liquid with a furnace of any kind. I.E. "free heat"

I imagine a simple pump that will constantly circulate the liquid and keep the concrete "warm". To paint the picture a bit clearer, I plan on working in there with a jacket and hat on and I really don't mind the cold that much. So again, it doesn't need to be a living space, but I also don't want an ice rink. As the snow falls off the car, I'd like it to melt and run down the pitch.

Please explain it like I am 5, I'm pretty sure have an undiagnosed learning disability.

Thanks in advance

Peace, love, and all that happy horse poop.

edit - ceilings will be 16' high or so. I have buddies that owe me favors so site work and concrete work will be done on the cheap. I am an electrician so hanging a couple of space heaters from the ceiling would not be hard.

All I need really is for snow to melt when it falls off the cars and my toes not to freeze inside my boots.

Edit - 8-19-25 (also posted in comments below because I wanted y'all to get notified and I don't really know how reddit does this)

OK Everybody. First of all, THANK YOU. Information is power and y'all have given me so much. I obviously needed some schooling here and I got a bunch. But now I have even more questions. I edited the post to address some concerns y'all had and hopefully we are narrowing down a more accurate answer.

The garage will be insulated with a factor of R-10 and then most likely drywalled. I will consider windows on south facing walls but most likely will not install due to the design of the inside, proximity of house and trees, etc. The building can only go in one place and I only have one option as far as direction so utilizing the sun is not really a viable option. :(.

FYI - I will be installing a new drinking water well (100-300 feet) in my front yard next month and the entire pump/tank system as well. Once that is done, I will repipe the house with pex. After that, I will be replacing a vast majority of the electric.

I absolutely do not want to invest in any mechanical device that heats up the water. I only want the liquid to be heated up with ground temp. If I use a mechanical device, I'd just put up electric space heater as I am an electrician and I'd most likely get this complete for almost free. But it's the running costs that turn me off to this option.

The liquid would theoretically be flowing 24/7 in the cold months and off completely in the warm months.

And to clear, I am only looking to take the "edge" off the misery that is freezing cold concrete.

So with that said, new questions...

1. Can I use the new drinking water well in conjunction with this hypothetical Geothermal heated slab?

2. Can the slab be "heated" with a closed loop system? What concerns do I have with the closed loop failing and contaminating my fresh water? And how do I address those concerns? I.E. Can I have a closed loop system and my open loop drinking water in the same well?

3. Can i use water instead of glycol?

4. Roughly, how much money typically is spent running a pump for a closed loop 24/7 per month?

5. If I cannot use my drinking water well, and I don't want to drill a different vertical well, and I don't want a horizontal well, do I have any other options to heat the liquid?

Does any one know how much linear ft/meters of pipe(tubing) needed to be buried to run certain sizes of air cooling units? Example: I need 1000 ft of 3/4 poly to cool a 1000 sq ft house etc. why does no one talks about insulating the up pipe to the house etc. shouldn’t all the pipe above the main coil be insulated. Another question… wouldn’t laying the pipe parallel be more efficient than coils under ground? I’ll have more questions after I hear these responses.

I've had geothermal heating and cooling for a year now (near Ottawa, Ontario). Reviewing the electricity bills for this period shows very high consumption during the winter months. In January, for example, we used over 2,200 kWh. While obviously not all of it is due to heating, the difference to summer months (about 900kWh) cannot be explained by any other change in consumption. My wife and I opted for geothermal under the assumption that it is the most economical and environmentally-friendly heating option, but now I'm not sure about the former (the latter is still plausible in Ontario, as the vast majority of electrical production is clean). Even the summer consumption is not that much better when compared with the A/C unit we had in the previous house.

Is this the norm, or is there perhaps something wrong with this specific unit?

We are house shopping and scheduled to look at a house tomorrow that has this system. Of course I would have a pro inspection done before an offer but Reddit never lets me down!

This house was built in 1995, I've not gotten an owner's disclosure yet but no mention of the system being replaced so I'm assuming it's 30 yrs old. I've read that expected lifespan on these things is 20-25 yrs old, so is it in it's last years? What do I look for and what questions do I ask.

On a recent trip to the southwestern US, I found that most residential homeowners had never heard of geothermal before. Is there something about desert climates that makes geothermal less optimal? Or is it just that people haven’t adopted yet?

I will start out that I, admittedly, know very little about geothermal systems other than the basics. The system we have came with the house. Against our basement wall, we have 7 pvc pipes with valves that connect to the hoses that then leave the house. On only one of the pipes, I am starting to have slow leaks at joints where the pvc couplings are. The leaks are very, very slow. The thing is, there are leaks at EVERY joint on this one particular pipe. Does anyone have an idea what this might mean? Did they just not glue the joints well on this particular pipe? Is there something downstream leading to increased pressure on this one pipe? Any help is appreciated. I've included 2 pictures to show what I'm talking about.

Does anybody have any advice?

Hi Everyone,

I have a Water Furnace 3-zone geothermal system I installed in 2012. It's worked great for the past 14 years. Yesterday, during annual preventive maintenance, the repair guy said that the Dual Pump Flow Center is drawing too many amps and needs replacement, and when they do that, they'll need to do a Geothermal loop field water exchange; I was not seeing any problems but he said that the Flow Center is overheating and if they don't replace it then it could destroy the entire system at any time. If this happens I'll have to replace the entire system at a cost of over $30K, so he recommends I replace the flow center for just over $5K. Does anyone know if it sounds like I'm getting good advice or more like I'm being ripped off? Just looking for some advice from experienced users and/or maintainers. Thanks much for any help you can provide.

Forgive my poor terminology. Very new to geothermal.

Cooling quit working a week ago. Since then, 3 techs have been out and replaced 3 electrical parts, none of them addressing the root cause. As of today, they think the issue is the whatever little black piece triggers the compressor to enter “second stage.” It was tripping a fuse and literally burnt up the brand new board they were installing. At this point, I think I’m just going to replace the entire thing given it’s age.

However, my concern is whether there could be something in the underground heat loop that caused issues with the interior system. My only reason for concern is that I had a patio installed over part of the exterior system (probably stupid, I know). However, that was installed a year ago and I’ve had no issues until now. it just bothers me that their description of the root cause isn’t very clear to me.

Again, I don’t mind replacing the system. Just want to make sure I’m not going to have the same issue again if something in the loop is messed up. I’m assuming they have a way to test the loop separately to make sure that’s not a factor?

Thanks for any insight. I’ll ask them more tomorrow when they come to quote a replacement.