Geothermal by the number
Posted by: Chih-Ting Flora Lo, in Geothermal Heating and Cooling, Greenomics, Our livesWe finally got all the bills a week and a half ago for the geothermal heat pump and related work done. It took a while for the job to be done, but it also looks like they’re not in a rush for the money! It’s funny how things work in a smaller city/town. No one asked us to pay ahead of time, and most of them did not even give me a bill right after the job is done. You could say they know where I live so they can always find me… well, almost! At least for the well pump, he had to call and ask where to mail the bill because he’s lost my address!
And you ask if it’s worth it (financially) to put in the geothermal heat pump? Let me break down the cost first and provide a very rough estimated pay-back time for you. A more thorough analysis will follow after I take some actual data of my energy usage at home. This study is under a few assumptions:
1. The compared system to my WaterFurnace Envision geothermal heat pump is a 93% high efficiency propane furnace. It would be the furnace that qualifies for the same EcoAction grant that I’m getting, and I’ve actually got one or two quotes on it.
2. The cost of propane is 81cents/L as stated on my receipt that I have recently got from my propane supplier.
3. Estimated propane usage per year is about 2000L, which is based on the usage of the previous owner, and also from the Ontario Ministry of Energy website. I took the high efficiency propane furnace there for an average sized home. The estimated geothermal heating cost is $500 instead of $810 from the website because our heat pump is rated with a 5COP instead of 2.8 listed there, so I thought that would be a fair estimate.
4. AC cost is also based on the MOE website for an average home with a conventional electric AC for an average sized home. Our heat pump is rated to have 30EER, so I also think $100 is probably reasonable.
5. Hot water cost is also based on the MOE website, and we’re going to put a 50% saving for this table.
6. It should be noted that for this calculation, we’re assuming both electricity and propane price don’t change in the time to come =p.
| Item |
Geothermal heat pump | 95% Efficient Propane furnace |
| System cost | $18370.09 | $4800.00 |
| EcoAction Rebate | $3500.00 | $500.00 |
| Provincial match | $3500.00 | $500.00 |
| Energy source | Electricity | Propane + electricity |
| Heating | Yes | Yes |
| Air Conditioning | Yes | No |
| Hot water heating | Yes | No |
| Hot water heating savings | up to 60% | N/A |
| Annual Heating cost | $500 | $1600 |
| Annual cooling cost | $100 | $500 |
| Annual hot water cost | $300 | $600 |
| Total Capital cost(with rebate) | $11379.09 | $3800 |
| Total Annual Cost | $900 | $2700 |
| Break-even comparing to furnace | 4.21 YEARS |
So here you have it. We’ll give you a much more detailed and realistic study in the future, but I think a 4.21 years pay back time is not too shabby at all! And, we really think we can beat it!
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