I'm another newbie, so bear with me as well.  We live in Southern WV and are very interested in geothermal...waterfurnace is the only company I can seem to find online.  I actually have a local heating/cooling person coming out tomorrow for an estimate...he did a friend's geothermal and so far, things are fine (we haven't had extreme weather yet and he paid out the waaazooo).  Does anyone know any other manufacturer's?  I'm a little nervous after reading everything about waterfurnace, not to mention the over the phone quote was really, really high (I know it's higher than traditional furnaces)  12K for 1600 sq ft AND we do our own digging.  Last year I spoke with someone NOT from waterfurnace who gave me an over the phone quote of 12K installed.  Any suggestions?

We just bought a home July 06 and put in a waterfurnace envision system. We're extremely happy with it. Can't say what the utility bills would have been with a conventional hvac system (new construction) but I've averaged heat/ac/waterheat and other electricity bills of $135 for a 2600 sq ft home. It has worked flawless. By the way, I'm in Lancaster, PA - similar weather to you.

There are bunches of different brands of geothermal heat pumps available to you. Just make sure you research them and that they are definitely ARI certified. Personally, I'd recommend a DX heat pump by ECR.

Look into DX Geothermal. It is a much simplier design and does not require secondary heat exchangers for heat transfer. EarthSource Energy Solutions is another DX manufacturer. They have 10 year parts and labor warranties, plus a 55 year loop warranty. It is the simpliest geothermal design on the market.