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Anyone looking at or using geothermal?

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Wilbur:
I am not sure if this is in the right section but geothermal has some real appeal to me for a variety of reasons. One is no more oil/fuel bills as it runs on electricity, but is far more efficient than electric heat. I am thinking that it would work well for a bug-out site quite well as that lower operating cost would be a good thing in a SHTF scenario. From what I can find online it seems like systems cost (full systems) between $10K and $25K depending on size, available land for the heating/cooling tubes, etc. But if you're adding that cost to an existing build/renovation it is not that much....and given the savings potential it would pay for itself pretty quick.  Just curious if anyone has some "real world" experience with them?

Nate:
it is a great concept, but the cooling properties to me are not much better than a swamp cooler.

KensAuto:
Nate, not everyone know's what a swamp cooler is. just sayin

EL TATE:
Good friends of mine are experts in the subject. They teach seminars on green building practices. Have solar, living roofs (big fancy garden rather than shingles), geo thermal and radiant floor heating/cooling using said geothermal. Winters are great, 67-65 without additional heat sources. Summers aren't bad, good airflow through 3 stories but the design of the home was intended to be used with geothermal, so convection acts on the cooling, and I would agree that it's not much better than a swamp cooler. However, it is hyper efficient and minimal cost for maintenance. up front costs can be daunting with the drilling, installation etc. IMHO, I would like to have it in my current home, and I think it's a great idea for bugout considering the renewable/reusable resource situation.

Wilbur:
I am familiar with swampers but they don't typically work real well in the east with the high humidity here.

While I am not a "green energy" fanatic by ANY stretch (I think the GW hype is all about liars grabbing tax dollars) but anything I can do to improve my cost structure is a good thing. I built a small solar heater for my house just to see if I could do it....it passively raises the temp about 60 degrees. A buddy of mine in Denver built his house with a small "solar room" and he uses about 1/3 the oil his neighbors do for heat in the winter. Granted its Denver with its 300 days of sunshine per year but I think some of the things like that can go a long way in a SHTF situation. I like the idea of geothermal from this same perspective. Thanks for the input guys! 

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