Benifits and drawbacks of geo thermal energy?

Question

Benifits and drawbacks of geo thermal energy?

Answer 1

I have had the geo-thermal unit installed in July of this year, and I think it is great.  We are on propane and our consumption has gone down at least 75%.  We had it hooked into our regular furnace which is a forced air and the heat seems to be more regular and even.  Some of the draw backs are that it is initially expensive but you will save that cost and more in 5 or so years, and the back yard is tore up as they dig an 8' deep trench about 2' wide and the length depends on the size of your house which requires landscaping. You also may notice a slight increase in your electric bill, but not tremendous.  It also cools your house in the summer if you have a forced air furnace.  It is quieter also as you can not hear it except for the furnace running.

Answer 2

im not sure what kind of geothermal energy you are talking about, or what the other guy is talking about who answered.  If by geothermal you mean  using naturally heated water or heat sources to make steam to run turbines to create electricity, as they do in iceland and such, then the biggest drawback would seem to be that not everywhere has such a  renewable nonpolluting resource.  There are certainly no more drawbacks to using it than you would probably have by building  a nuclear power plant or coal fired plant in the same area to do the same thing, and most likely many less problems.

Answer 3

main drawback seems to be that although both deep geothermal and ground source heat pumps are very mature technology, people still dont quite understand how it works. there is a big resistance, from government level down to house builders, to what is perceived as a 'whacky' or 'unproven' technology.

big plants; we drill several kilometers down regularly now for oil, at these depths most rocks are hot, add water and you get steam. this could power the whole country. more expensive than building fossil fuel power plant, but close to zero running costs.

household heat pumps; as first poster reports, apart form initial high cost of installation its mostly good stuff. as these systems can last 100 odd years, cost will be paid for long before end of life, even at todays fuel prices.