I just recently got a geothermal quote from a local geothermal dealer/installer for my new house.  The house is a 3000 sq. ft colonial style being built with 6" Arxx ICF wall system.  All three floor levels will be 4" concrete with radiant tubing in the floor.  There will be 6 zones throughout the house.  They informed me that they would be using a Hydron Module Dual Compressor 10 ton unit to heat this house.  There will also be an air exchanger along along with all of the duct work for the cooling side of the system.  They also included a 5 ton electric boiler for the snow melt in the driveway and sidewalks.  The entire system cost was $55,000.  This sounds awfully high to me.  Also, a Hydron Module 10 ton unit for a house that is so well insulated.  I did forget to mention that the roof will be sealed with Icynene and the house will have triple-pane windows.

My first question is, does a 10 ton Hydron Module unit sound like to much for a house that is so well insulated.  Second question is, does this cost sound like it is way out of line for a complete geo-thermal system.  Third question is, how many wells will need to be drilled to support a 10 ton unit.

Any help or advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.  At this cost, I am considering just using a regular gas boiler.  I would much rather go with geo-thermal if I could install it a little cheaper.  I had initially planned for a $30,000 to $35,000 cost but the additional $20,000 has really thrown me off.  Thanks for any help.

At first glance $50k seems a little steep. However there are a lot factors that determine cost of a heat pump.

Do you know what the heat load calcs are for your house? This is where you would start to determine cost. If you don't know, you need to find out.

Second, is you loop field going to be drilled? If so what are the drilling costs in your area?

 Does the $50k include radiant? If yes, then the price might be in line.


Normally you need 200' of borehole for each ton of capacity.

If I was you I would get as many bids as you can for your system. It is very foolish to get only one bid for a geo system. Make sure you ask for references!

You need to give us lot more info if you want any meaningful answers.

The home that I am building is 4000ft and I need just under 5 ton of heat.  To me you are way over sized.  However I'm in Oklahoma and I'm guessing you are up north so that will affect your heat load.  I am not using radiant and not familiar with it so I don't know how it affects tonnage.  All that said...I'm not a HVAC guy but I am an ICF guy and have heard of many horror stories of over sized systems in ICF homes.  I had my loads calculated by Energywise Structures who specialize in homes of this nature.  I would absolutely make sure your contractor of choice has experience and success with ICF.

With the tonnage you mentioned and the options of snow melt and radiant....to me the price is probably close.  However if you are over sized the price should correct to your favor.

Don't take my word for it.  Like I said I'm not a HVAC guy.  Just make sure your loads are right!!

Just curious?? What is the function of the boiler? How much does your cost drop w/o needing the ability to melt snow? You said extra ducting for the cooling side is this because there will be no heat through ducts? Isn't the air exchanger more for the heating side? (Mixing warmer air with outside air)?
Does that include the loops? 10 tonnes is 10 holes (drilling is costly) ! Just an observer trying to figure the geo thing out-thanks for your patience.

If you live near in NJ, NY and PA or delaware, I could install the Geothermal System to your house at your initial cost estimation or less with no need for drilling and no large area for looping.

I invented new Geothermal System and Patented on 12/31.2007 (see Geoexchange.org).

I installed my system to my house.

Let me know (saeheumsong@yahoo.com) if you are still interested in Geothermal System. I could install geothermal water heater independent of your home heating and cooling with reasonable price too.

that does seem like a lot of tonnage. That's what competitive bids are for. See if you can get him to break down the costs.

Can you provide more specific link info? I would like to learn more but I'm not going to search all around www.geoexchange.org looking for it.

The post was purged from the geoexchange website forum according to my search. Applying for a patent is different from submitting a system to ARI, UL and ETL for testing / approval. Selling a system without these listings is a tremendous liability and is illegal in most states.  

Sorry, I had no time to visit.

Regarding new invention see web site "www.noblegeofurnce.com" despite I didnot posted details. I am not making any heat pumps and new system was tested completely. This is renovation and expecting on market in a few years. Keep your fingers on.