For the last three days, there has been a crew in our front yard drilling a 500-foot hole in the ground. That’s about 150 meters for all you people who live in the metric world, which is almost everyone except the US…
The reason for this is not to find water, which happened well before they hit rock at 80 feet. Instead, this very deep hole is to install a geothermal heating and cooling system.
I’m excited because, after the new system is in, we will be able to permanently disconnect our house from the methane supply system. Our cooling costs will also be much lower because geothermal systems are much more efficient than the typical central air conditioning unit.
I will be glad not to be using any fracked gas which has caused so much trouble for our PA (Pennsylvania) neighbors and the climate. We will also helping to support the New York State version of a “Green New Deal”, moving to renewable energy in a way that is supportive of impacted workers and communities.
At the moment, though, we just have a very deep hole in the ground with two tubes coming out of it – and a very, very muddy, messy yard.
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “ground.” Join us! Find out how here: https://lindaghill.com/2019/10/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-12-19/
We once looked at a house with geothermal heating. I was intrigued but the house needed so much work we had to pass. I will be curious to see how it works for you.
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I know in some parts of the country geothermal has been in use for a long time. Advances in technology have now made it viable in cooler climates, such as the one in which we live. We are hopeful that it will keep our home more comfortable with lower overall costs of operation and lower carbon footprint, especially as a lot of our power comes from solar.
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This is an area I know nothing about! I’ll be interested to hear how things work out for you guys. Hope it’s everything you’re looking forward to!
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Thanks, Laura! I’m sure I’ll be posting more about it as the project progresses and we see how things work.
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