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Drawbacks of geothermal heating systems
Geothermal, or geo-exchange, heating systems have many environmental advantages, but a few drawbacks, too.
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2. The second big drawback is that every geothermal system needs a back-up heat system, according to our geo-man Tony Silverio, who says:
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Alexandra writes about the 'green' and budget-friendly renovation of a 100-year-old farmhouse in south-central Connecticut.
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The second stage heating system has to be there for one simple reason. The heart and soul of your geothermal system is based on a compressor – like you have in a traditional air conditioning system.
If the compressor in an air conditioner goes out, no big deal; you don’t have air conditioning for a couple of days while you wait for the mechanic. In a geo-system if a compressor fails you need heat immediately – especially if it’s a real cold day. And if a compressor is going to fail, it’s going to be when the weather is the coldest and it’s working the hardest.
So what happens then, is the second stage heat kicks on automatically and you have heat until someone comes and fixes the compressor. That’s the whole logic of second stage.
Some geothermal systems, though, which are less expensive and less efficient, also need a back-up system that can kick in when it drops below 25 degrees F. to augment a system that may not be able to handle really frigid temperatures.
3. The final big drawback I’ve been able to gather concerns maintenance. Every seven to 10 years, the pipes in the system have to be “purged and flushed.” That costs about $1,500. Every year, air filters have to be changed as well. If you choose to hire a company to do it twice a year, add another $200 annually. But that does not deter me. Considering that I now pay about $230 a year for a service contract for my oil burner, and thousands every year for oil, I still think geothermal is a cost-effective – to say nothing of environmentally responsible – choice.
I’m sure that many of you know much more about this than I do, and if I’m missing some big problems that I and others should be aware of, please, comment away!
In the meantime, in my next post, I’ll be writing about the windows we have decided to use.
Editor's note: Alexandra Marks will be blogging twice a week about her green and budget-friendly restoration of a 1902 farmhouse in Connecticut. See a photo gallery of the early days of the project by clicking here. You can read all she's written about the project so far by clicking here and then looking for Sheep Dog Hollow under Topics on the right side of the page.
You'll find numerous articles about the environment at the Monitor’s main environment page. Also, check out our Bright Green blog archive and our RSS feed.
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