We replaced our aging HVAC equipment with a geothermal energy system from Dandelion Energy. The cost was effectively free, and switching from a fuel oil system was the equivalent of planting over 700 mature trees. This is a candid review of our experience, the pros and cons, and our recommendation on geothermal and Dandelion Energy.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion (jump to it if you're in a rush!)
PROS
There are many advantages to a geothermal system. Let's walk through them.
Powerful, Energy-Efficient System
So what is geothermal energy anyway? A geothermal system taps into the earth's constant underground temperature to provide heating and cooling. The average temperature just ten feet below the surface is 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Closed-loop geothermal systems, like the type that Dandelion Energy installs, run loops underground with a water-based solution that transfers heat from your house in the summer down to cooler temperatures below. In winter, it does the inverse, transferring heat from below ground into the house to warm it up.
This approach is far more efficient than your traditional HVAC system. In the winter, even when the temperature outside hits the single digits, it only needs to heat the air up from 55 to 72 degrees. In the summer, it is using that 55-degree temperature from underground to cool your home.
Why isn’t geothermal energy already more popular?
So if these systems are so great, why aren’t they more prevalent in the US? Historically the cost of accessing geothermal energy has been too expensive.
Iceland, the land of hot springs, powers over 90% of its homes via geothermal energy, given how pervasive geothermal fields are in the country. Given the lack of Blue Lagoons on the surface in the US, it’s a bit more expensive for us to tap into this resource.
Thankfully companies like Dandelion Energy have developed equipment that can more effectively access those underground temperatures, as you can see below.
We have a relatively small front yard, but Dandelion Energy has developed a small format drill that can work in tight spaces. The rig below drilled 3 holes, 400-500 feet deep, to deploy vertical geothermal loops far beneath the surface.
In larger yards, they can spread loops out horizontally without having to go so deep underground. We feared the drilling would upset our neighbors, but the machine was surprisingly quiet.
Energy Cost Savings
The efficiency of this system adds up to significant savings on your annual energy costs. According to Dandelion Energy’s estimates, here is the range of typical savings, depending on which traditional system you’re replacing:
Propane: 60%
Fuel Oil & Central AC: 53%
Air Source Heat Pump: 48%
Natural Gas: 25%
Summer Savings
To check on these claims, we first analyzed the change in our energy use over the summer months, which is detailed below. With the geothermal system installed, our energy needs dropped by about 30% on average. As the temperatures peaked in August, when our AC was in heavy use, there was a stark difference in power consumption.
Winter Savings
We switched to geothermal from Fuel Oil & Central AC, which Dandelion Energy claims should yield a savings of 53%. The difference in summer wasn't quite that dramatic, but the winter season is when the real savings should kick in. Our geothermal system was installed last year, and we are writing this as of November, with only one month of data to compare.
Here is how our expenses compared year-over-year for November:
November 2022
Electricity: $385
Fuel Oil: $605
Total: $990
November 2023
Electricity: $541 (up 41% since our heat is powered by electricity now)
Fuel Oil: $0
Total: $541
Savings
Cash: $449 less
%: 45% less
We expect the savings to become even more dramatic as the winter peaks, when our monthly fuel oil costs have reached $1000.
Total Savings
So we're not sure that our savings get to the 53% that Dandelion Energy estimates, but it’s reasonable to assume that we have cut our annual energy bills by at least a third. The real savings can depend on where electricity pricing moves, but the price of other power sources fluctuates as well.
Subsidies for Installation
Switching to a geothermal system can certainly save money on your monthly energy costs, but you have to factor in the upfront cost of installing a new HVAC system.
We were in a situation where we needed to replace heating and cooling systems that were 20-25 years old. We estimated that replacing them with traditional equivalents would have cost us somewhere from $15-$20K.
As we researched more progressive, energy-efficient alternatives, we learned that there were significant incentives to encourage the adoption of geothermal HVAC systems. There are ample federal, state, and utility rebates to help reduce carbon emissions. These incentives encourage early adopters to take a risk on innovative technology built by companies like Dandelion Energy.
When we explored the cost of installing a geothermal system, the sticker price was substantially greater than just getting a new oil furnace and traditional AC. However, subsidies covered over 75% of the installation cost! And there are loans with reasonable interest rates, particularly in low-income areas, that can be used to cover the rest of the upfront expense.
NOTE: Regulations can change and subsidy budgets can get depleted, so the potential for savings may vary. Installers like Dandelion Energy should be up to speed and able to let you know what is available to incentivize your adoption of a geothermal system.
A Free HVAC System (effectively)
The monthly energy cost savings from our new geothermal system cover the monthly payments for the loan we took out to cover our upfront costs. So we are effectively getting a brand new HVAC system for free! Had we just replaced our old system with traditional equipment, we would be out $15-20K and still have those higher monthly energy costs. As detailed below in the Cons section, there are some miscellaneous expenses that we had to cover, but they were nowhere close to $15-20K.
Once our loan is paid off, the energy savings effectively go into our pocket. Who knows whether home buyers incorporate the potential monthly savings from geothermal into home prices today? But we would imagine over time that the government makes it even more expensive to operate fossil fuel-based systems.
NOTE: Dandelion Energy can easily retrofit their system into existing ductwork. However, if you do not have existing ductwork, the installation can be much more expensive and messy.
Environmental Impact
Whether you’re all that concerned about the environment, it seems reasonably clear that you can save money with a geothermal system. If you are concerned about the environment, the great news is that switching to geothermal can have a dramatic impact on your carbon footprint.
We Planted a Forest!
At WattSherpa, we fall into the very pro-environment camp. We ran some numbers to estimate the reduction in our carbon footprint with a switch to geothermal.
Using the EPA's Carbon Footprint Calculator, we estimated our impact as follows:
Pre-Geothermal
79,635 gallons of CO2 emissions annually
This includes all of our home energy, transportation, and waste activities
Post-Geothermal
39,812 gallons of CO2 emissions annually
Based on eliminating our annual fuel oil usage
Reduced footprint by 50% from Pre-Geothermal
Like planting 721 mature trees!
We had switched to an electric vehicle, which reduced our original carbon footprint by 7%. But we were amazed to see how much more impactful it was to transition our heating and cooling energy system.
For this switch to be fully impactful, your electricity needs to come from 100% renewable sources. This may or may not be the case, but most utility providers are on the path to becoming primarily powered by renewable energy over the long term.
Eliminates External Equipment
All of the geothermal components on the outside of a home are hidden underground. The system requires no external space for equipment that can be big, ugly, and loud.
We were able to reclaim a lot of space outside. We previously had two external AC condenser units, which were getting increasingly noisy with age. Those eyesores are now completely removed. Dandelion Energy hauled the units away along with our old oil furnace, air handlers, and water heater.
And we are most excited to remove the 275-gallon oil tank that takes up a bunch of space in our garage. That will cost a few thousand dollars and is something that Dandelion Energy does not cover. We will be thrilled to see the oil tank hauled away, knowing that we will never again see an oil truck stop in front of our house to fill it up, which would cost us as much as $1000/month in the peak of winter.
Less Dry Air in Winter
The last little benefit is that geothermal systems do not scorch the air in the same way as gas and oil systems, which results in much lower humidity levels in your home when the heat is really pumping. Traditional systems basically burn moisture out of the air.
We weren’t sure how much of an impact we would see, but I’m happy to say that we have been able to keep our humidifiers in storage this winter. We loathed having to refill our units every night throughout the winter months.
It is generally recommended that a healthy humidity level for your home is 40-60%. Based on the new Ecobee thermostats that were installed with our system, our home has maintained a 40-50% humidity level even on very cold days. We are thrilled to have retired from our nightly humidifier water-filling duties.
CONS
Nothing is perfect, and our transition to geothermal had some drawbacks.
Messy Installation Process
This is the biggest challenge with geothermal. While replacing an old furnace can be a messy task, drilling 500-foot holes in your yard takes the complexity to a whole new level.
Geothermal installation involves 3 key steps:
Drilling
According to Dandelion Energy, the drilling process can take a few days to a few weeks, depending on what kind of obstacles the drills come upon, like bedrock. Luckily we did not have any such issues, and our three holes were completed in less than a week.
We had read about problems that older Dandelion Energy customers had with drilling causing cracks in the foundations of some homes. Our holes were drilled quite close to our foundation, but we had no issues. We have an older home, built in the 1920s, so a very thick foundation may have helped. The company has reportedly been developing better drilling equipment to work effectively in tighter spaces.
Trenching
Once the holes were dug, ground loops were installed deep into the earth, and as you can see in the photo, a trench that I would guess is four to five feet deep was dug across the holes and towards the house.
All of the holes were connected via a main tube that was then routed to our house, with a hole drilled into our foundation to run the tubing to the equipment in our basement utility closet.
This connection funnels the water-based solution from the ground loops throughout the house. This enables the system to effectively transfer the consistent underground temperatures to heat and cool our home.
Installation
Once the trenching was completed, we could proceed with the interior work. This phase involved the removal of our outdated equipment and the installation of the geothermal system. Specifically, we had to replace our old oil furnace, aging water heater, and air handlers. Additionally, we had to install geothermal tubing from our basement utility closet all the way up to the attic. This enabled the system operating the upstairs zone to effectively utilize the water-based solution from the external geothermal loops..
To install our new geothermal system, Dandelion Energy swapped out the existing equipment in our attic and the utility closet in our basement, which cover two zones in our home. As you can see in the before and after photos below, the footprint of the new equipment was generally the same as our old system.
Landscaping Costs
The drilling and trenching did a number on our front yard. We had to temporarily move our stone walkway so that the drill wouldn’t crush the stone, and we had to re-seed the lawn after the exterior work was complete. Depending on the makeup of your yard, this could add some incremental cost to installation.
The image below shows what our yard looked like after trenching was completed. Dandelion Energy filled back in the dirt and leveled it, but we had to cover the cost of re-seeding and resetting our stone walkway. Those loops sticking out of the ground were eventually capped off and buried once they were filled with a water-based solution.
Electrical Needs
Though this would not apply to everyone, our biggest issue was the need to upgrade our electrical system from 200 to 400 amps.
To ensure that our system could work on the coldest days (<7 degrees Fahrenheit), it was recommended that we have an auxiliary heat pump installed with our system. We received mixed signals as to whether we really needed it, but we did not want to adopt a new system that may not fully function during the harshest winter days.
This part of our process has seemingly taken forever. Dandelion Energy offered to handle the electrical work, which they have done at a glacial pace with abysmal communication. And it has been messy, as you can see in the picture below. A trench had to be dug along the side of our driveway to bury the additional wire that needed to be connected to our utility pole.
A large external electrical box, which is at the right in the photo, had to be installed to enable the increased amperage for our home.
As of the writing of this post, while our driveway is back to normal, Dandelion Energystill doesn’t have approval from ConEd to switch on the extra juice. The delay appears to be a combination of Dandelion Energy having limited resources with the appropriate electrical experience required, and the bureaucracy of ConEd. We are pleading for them to have this done before our first 7-degree day!
Patience Required
On top of the neverending electrical delays, it took a long while to go from signup to installation of our system. Dandelion Energy’s website claims each step takes a few days to a few weeks, but we have been waiting over a year to have our system fully functional.
They did get the system installed with the AC up and running just before summer, but we’re approaching the heart of winter and waiting for the auxiliary heat pump to be functional via the additional electricity.
Our perspective is that Dandelion Energy is going through the growing pains that every innovative company faces. They have developed a very compelling product, and they have been trying to build the plane as it rapidly ascends. The demand for their product has been more than they can handle. The company has raised significant funding and is hopefully improving its operations for newer customers.
CONCLUSION FOR DANDELION ENERGY REVIEW
Based on our experience, we would wholeheartedly recommend switching over to geothermal HVAC. If you have a very new oil or gas system, we would probably wait. But for most families, the economic and environmental impact of geothermal feels like a no-brainer.
Despite encountering a few challenges with Dandelion Energy, we highly recommend their product. The installed system demonstrates impressive power and efficiency. We eagerly anticipate its full functionality, eagerly awaiting ConEd's approval.
The only exception is that if you're pressed for time, you might want to explore other options. And if you need to upgrade your electrical system to enable the system, it takes a genuine passion for the environment to summon the patience needed for the transition.
Many service providers have been installing geothermal systems for years. With innovators like Dandelion Energy, the technology is becoming increasingly accessible. We are big believers in the company's mission and hope to see geothermal solutions from Dandelion Energy and other providers become increasingly pervasive in our energy ecosystem.
If you’d like to check out Dandelion Energy, you can click on this link to learn more and get $500 off the final cost of a system. The link also provides a referral fee that supports WattSherpa if you move forward. We believe that our review here has been completely balanced, but our primary hope is just that you consider a geothermal future!
Comments