apsinkus

So I am looking into replacing existing forced air heating system in an old 2500 sq. ft. house. I want to put in cooling (either by replacing entire HVAC or by adding on cooling to existing system with additional returns). Since gas is not going to get any cheaper and electricity is not going down any time soon, I am thinking about possible alternatives. I live in Boston area.

I have been looking into geothermal information, but I am not finding any average system costs out there. I have enough of a back yard to put in vertical closed loop system.

AU_Prospector

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,20162296,00.html

Here is an article. They mention $20k for a 2000 sq foot home.
They did an episode retrofitting a Martha's Vineyard home a few years ago on TV (or was is Block Island?) where they used a horizontal circulation field instead of drilling deep holes. I havent heard anything bad about them except for the initial cost, hope you plan on staying in the home for a while.

apsinkus

Never had to replace HAVC before, how much a brand new unit with install costs for a 2000 sq.ft. house? The existing system is extremely old and only does heating.

jasonkoll

Geothermal costs are going to depend on the geothermal application you were thinking of. The cheapest of these systems being to go with an vertiacl open loop geothermal system. This system would go down into your well and remove heat from the water table. It is also called a pump and dump system as it pumps water from the level of your well and the water essentially is pumped into a near by pond or drainage point. With a vertical open loop system you would be looking in the neighborhood of around $15,000 depending on application differences.

For a horizontal closed loop system add $10,000.

jasonkoll

If we are looking for effiecncy and do not want to invest the money into a geothermal system you can always go with a heat pump. A heat pump follows the same princple as geothermal, but instead of extracting heat from the earth, the heat pump extracts heat and cooling from the air. It actually looks just like a A/C condensor, just a little bigger. Look here to see if they can give you a good price for an Goodman or Amana, djsonline.com

glennjanie

Hello Aspingus:
Janie and I installed a geothermal unit 10 or 12 years ago and would recommend it to anyone. It paid off in 5 years and is still running strong; it is also a vertical closed loop system. You could plan on spending $8K to $12K.
Glenn

JulieC

We replaced two old furnaces (one natural gas converted to propane, about 30 years old, one electric about 20 years old ... previous owners used up old gas well in backyard) about 5 years ago with a single propane gas furnace. We got our central-air replaced at the same time. I think it was around $6000 total.

I'm looking to save some cash this winter too. I've been reading up on how sealing around doors and windows, and bringing insulation levels up to current standards will save a big chunk of your heating/cooling costs and costs way less than a new furnace. Of course, the same resources recommend a new furnace if yours is over ~15 years old. The newer models are much more efficient.