I'm trying to decide between geothermal with radiant heating vs. geothermal with forced air.  It's a complete remodel of an abandoned home, so I'm starting from scratch.  I hear that radiant heat is more efficient and comfortable, but forced air allows for cooling, and would allow me to heat my sub-basement.

I read somewhere that forced air with geothermal requires larger ducts, and one person said he had to turn up his TV when the fan came on.  Is that a common problem?  Which combination is best?  Money is an issue, but energy efficiency is more important.

Any system with a blower so obtrusive to require increased volume on a TV or radio is almost certainly very poorly designed. Geo could require larger ducts for heating since air from geothermal systems is generally not as warm as that from gas or oil, so more air is needed for a given heating load. The tradeoff is worthwhile as the result is more even, comfortable heating.

Seek local installers competent and willing to do ACCA Manuals J, D, and S calculations for your system and come back to us with their proposal alternatives and we can help you choose

It’s not either /or, have both! Why not go for the best there is - a geothermal heat pump system. One triple function geothermal heat pump integrates into one compact package, forced air heating & air-conditioning, radiant in-floor heating and full domestic hot water heating. This is the greenest, most reliable & simplest to use space-conditioning system you can install.


http://www.nordicghp.com/mg/

Click on ‘Products’, ‘TF-Series’, download installation manual pdf.

SR

EarthLinked also has that option available.

Engineer hit it right on the head, too. The best thing you could do for comfort is to make sure the installer will properly size, design, and install the complete system. This of course includes the duct. With properly sized, designed, and installed duct, you WILL NOT have a noisy fan problem. You'll be VERY comfortable with just a forced air system, and, you'd be more efficient than radiant floor.

I'm not saying you should forget the radiant floor idea, but if the cost makes you choose between gas radiant vs. forced air geo, the choice should be obvious. Choose the geo forced air. Questar just announced a probable 36% increase in natural gas for the coming winter. Out here in the oil/gas field (in the Uintah Basin) all the companies working on the gas wells and lines are expecting natural gas in Utah to double over the next year. Why stick with such a high priced commodity? Go with the lower operation cost over time. You'll be very happy with that decision.

One of the bloggers here is geodean. Geodean is a great contact for you to make. He's a Utah contractor that has performed very well with his geothermal systems. He can also offer you EarthLinked DX. It's wonderful for retrofits, forced air or radiant. He'll make sure it's properly sized, designed, and installed. Hopefully you've already contacted him. If not, you should. He's at palacegeothermal.com