Can a traditional air conditioning system be replaced with a geothermal system? The systems are going into new construction more than retrofit because of the cost difference. Our systems are going in new...
Our systems are going in new construction more often than retrofit, because of the financial aspect of it. Typically, even if you take that added cost on the geothermal system that I talked about earlier and add that into your mortgage, your monthly savings in operating cost for heating and cooling and hot water is going to be greater than the added cost of the system in the mortgage. So in a new home, typically it produces a cash flow from day one for the homeowner. So it might look like its $3000 or $4000 more expensive, but putting that into a 30 year mortgage, a $3000 premium is about $20 a month on your mortgage.
But if we are saving that homeowner $40, $50, $60 a month in operating cost... it has given that homeowner positive cash flow from day one from the first day that they live in that house. So that's why many of our systems are going into new construction. In retrofit, the return on investment is typically 3-7 years depending on local fuel usage and the type of equipment you are comparing it to. So there is a return on investment in retrofit.
