Can Geothermal Heating Become A Norm For Housing Developers?
Geothermal heating is both environmentally friendly and efficient.
The heat source provided by the Earth’s core is sustainable, clean and free for all of us, because it does not release any harmful gases that can damage the ozone layer or greenhouse gases to increase the global temperatures.
There are now more than 1,000,000 homes with geothermal heating systems (heat pumps) in the United States, and finally housing developers are beginning to install these systems as standard.
Are we finally starting to see a trend? Are we seeing an increased attention towards renewable energy instead of fossil fuels?
Hudson Valley Homes
Down in the Hudson Valley, geothermal start-up company Dandelion, decided to equip their new housing development with geothermal heating when they were built.
The homes were sold in 2017. Some of the homeowners have been so impressed with their system that they have opened their houses to the public on regular occasions to demonstrate how geothermal heating works, how efficient is it, and the low electricity bills that are paid even during the cold season.
The homeowners are paying half of what oil and propane users are usually paying, and they are not polluting the environment.
They are actually paying smaller energy bills than the users burning natural gas for heating and domestic warm water production.
The average annual heating bill in America being $644, that’s a huge saving – no wonder the homeowners were so proud.
There are now thousands of people on their waiting list to have a geothermal system installed in their home.
Investing in Geothermal Heating
It can costs around $40,000 to install a home with a geothermal heating system.
It is certainly an important investment into your home.
However it will increase the value of your home, and 95% of geothermal owners would recommend it to a friend.
Even more importantly you will be safe in the knowledge that you aren’t contributing to the Earth’s greenhouse gas problem.
A $40K investment seems to be high, but don’t forget that a geothermal heating system works all year long, producing heating and domestic hot water in the winter, and also cooling during the summer.
This means that such a renewable energy system will lower your energy bills very much, and also the carbon footprint of your home, which will protect the environment and also your wallet.
It is one giant step towards having a sustainable lifestyle.
Oil and Fuel Crisis
The biggest advantage of geothermal energy for home heating is that it is not subject to supply and demand fluctuations in price.
Last year severely cold temperatures in parts of the U.S. coupled with supply and pipeline problems led to a hike in prices of 41c per gallon.
For many families, this turned to be an issue.
Geothermal energy is constant and have no chemical byproducts such as harmful carbon monoxide.
Every geothermal energy installed puts U.S. energy security in a stronger position.
Looking to the future, if more housing developers installed geothermal heating systems from the outset it could help reduce pollution, and also benefit homeowners.
With 614,000 new houses sold in the U.S. last year, what a difference it would make.
