The bitter cold likely has you wondering how high your next gas and electric bill will be. There's a lot of talk about geothermal heat cutting down those bills.
Builders tell 9News it costs about $25,000 to install a geothermal system for a home. That's double the cost of a traditional system.
According to engineers, with the 70% reduction in energy bills the systems supply, it takes about eight years for the financial investment in a home system to pay off.
The environmental benefits are immediate, they say.
KZF Design is a company that focuses on design of commercial buildings.
Project Designer Boyd Johnson said, "I think it is definitely a good choice, because it is possible to save energy and help the environment. They get to do two things," he said.
KZF designers said you can save even bigger bucks if you design your entire home to be energy efficient.
They suggest you take special consideration into the angle your house is built on your lot as well as where windows are placed. They said your choice of lights can also reduce your bills.
ABC's Extreme Home Makeover Team installed a geothermal system in the new home it built for the Akers family in West Chester.
Ginger Akers said, "I think if we didn't have that, the bills would probably be double what they are right now."
Akers said their new house is double the size of the old one that had a traditional furnace.
She said with the thermostat set at 70-degrees she hasn't seen a boost in the bills.
Builder Mark Bradley Zaring is making geothermal heating and cooling standard in homes he's building this year.
"If It's something they don't want, we'll credit it out of the home," said Zaring. But Zaring is encouraging people go geothermal.
"It's part of the whole green movement," he said.
If you're wondering if you can do this to an already existing house, the answer is yes. It just may be a much more complicated job.
