It's usually so much more expensive than an air source heat pump that makes it completely not worth it.

jltsiren 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That depends on climate. The longer and colder your winters are, the more you benefit from the reliable efficiency of a ground source. Ground source heat pumps have been the most common choice for heating new single-family homes in Finland for the last ~20 years.

	▲	giantg2 5 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Installation is probably relatively cheaper there due to volume too. In areas where it is less common, there is less competition and fewer options for competent installers.
	▲	dzhiurgis an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		There is barely any people living in those latitudes. In Lithuania last 10 years air to water pumps completely took over. Now you also need consent to drill making it much too difficult.

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twothamendment an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yeah, not worth it in most cases, but when things line up, it is the best.

I've built 3 houses and got a bid on ground source heat for each one. I finally pulled the trigger on the 3rd house because we:

1) Moved where it was quite a bit colder, -20F for a week is common. 2) We have enough land to trench only 6'/2m deep to bury the loops instead of drilling like we would have needed to do on the first 2 houses. 3) There was a tax credit on it 4) No equipment exposed outside

Absolutely love it and it will make it difficult to move away when we want to down size b/c we'll pay more in utilities for half the space.

We also have some air-source on an addition I built, I'd use it anywhere that was slightly warmer than where I'm at.

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cenamus 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yeah, recently saw some numbers for air-to-air vs air-to-groundwater, and it break even after more than 25 years, with more than twice the initial cost

	▲	JumpCrisscross 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		What were the figures and where are you?

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dzhiurgis an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Bingo. Literally abandonded in Lithuania, air to air is so much cheaper. Some builders even ditch hp altogheter - basic electric underfloor heating + solar panels is so much cheaper.

I'm in New Zealand and my bedroom heater is $20 electric + $20 smart plug + $10 temperature sensor. Winter bill is ~$100 NZD. It would take ~20 years for heat pump to recover install cost alone.