Posted By Flo on 06/02/2009 5:34 PM
Hi, I am in the planning process for a house we are going to build hopefully in late fall. I live in Ontario north of toronto and we are hopefully going to be in for the next 40 - 50 years. The house is going to be 2100 sq ft with a wakout basement of equal size. I am going to use ICF for the foundation and am thinking of using it for the whole house. My question is i would like to use geothermal heat and am wondering if the 2nd floor ICF would be worth my money considering the payback with a geothermal heating system?
Thank you
I don't quite understand your question. Are you using 2nd floor in the Brit sense meaning the first floor above the basement? In the states that's the first floor. 
Are you concerned that if you use ICF all the way the payback in heating savings won't be great enough to justify the geothermal system, or are you so committed to geothermal that the energy cost savings it offers over conventional heating in a stick frame house won't pay for the ICF walls?
If you're concerned that the cost of ICF plus the cost of geothermal won't be repaid in energy cost savings you may very well be correct. You'd most likely be better off to go ICF and conventional heating, if install cost and payback are your overriding considerations.
You will find a lot of discussion in the forums here as to whether ICF is all that beneficial in a cold climate such as you are in. An alternative super tight super insulated construction may be best. You will not get an absolute clear cut answer one way or the other here, just a lot of good points to consider in making your own decision!
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