Ground Source vs. GFA Cost Difference
BossHog
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
Last week the GC I work for bid a new house. Pretty big 2 story with 2 furnaces.
The HVAC bid came back at 26k for GFA and 32K for ground source – A difference of 6k. I was expecting more difference than that.
Has the cost of the ground source systems come down? Or am I just out of touch?
I was under the impression that on a simple one furnace system a difference of 10 to 15k should be expected. But this certainly isn’t my area of expertise.
Replies
It will depend greatly on the site. People often ask me what the 'payback' or economics of GSHP systems are. I always say ... it depends ... on the site and the system type. System type should be chosen for the site. It can be very difficult to generalize about GSHP systems because of this.
In commercial applications, I've seen GSHP systems cost less than conventional and other times when the payback is 100+ years.
Generally speaking, though you are reasonably correct. If it were me, I'd tend to find out why the difference is small (if nothing else to ensure the GSHP bid wasn't too low). If site conditions are right, a low cost could be easily achieved.
Are they drilling wells or are they burying a loop? Maybe they have a pond? Maybe there is something about the site that lends itself to an inexpensive install and system type. I would always recommend that people keep their eye open for the right site conditions so that they could take advantage of the GSHP system at a reasonable cost.
This quote was for a buried loop, since they're in a rural location on a large site.
Don't let old age get you down - It's too hard to get back up.
Some buried loops might get away w/ trenching w/ backhoe vs. excavating the entire loop area. If digging is relatively easy, this can be inexpensive.
I tend to agree w/ the other poster ... forced air gas for $26K is a chunk of change. Must be a large house.
Mine was trenched with a backhoe.
It's a pretty good sized house. And it includes AC.
Don’t bail; the best gold is found at the bottom of barrels of ####. [Randy Pausch]
If pump and dump into pond or stream, then only $3K for a well and $3K add-on to the AC system would be 6 K.
Sounds like $26K for GFA is huge, must be quite a duct system.
Built my own GSHP last year (pump and dump) and out of pocket costs were under $500 for 4T, $350 of that was for the scroll compressor, naturally no labor in that cost.
Hence, I can see that if the indoor coil and compressor and electrical wiring is already part of the $26K, then the $6K differential is possible, esp if the trenches, etc, replace the condensor needed for the AC.
That sounds similiar to the cost diff when I installed mine 12 years ago.