Yoko Higa
Owner and system designer
Does the heat-loss numbers and writes every proposal, ground and air.
Ground-source heat pumps, Ithaca and around
A ground loop is not right for every house. Here is how to tell.
We design and install ground-source heating and cooling for houses, meeting houses and small public buildings. When an air-source heat pump suits yours better, we say so and write that quote instead.
Start with the building
Homeowners
Boards and committees
The honest table
Ground versus air, row by row.
Both are heat pumps. The difference is where the heat comes from and what it takes to get there. Neither column wins every row.
| Air-source | Ground-source | |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | Air-sourceLower. No drilling, and the outdoor unit sits on a pad or a wall bracket. | Ground-sourceHigher. Drilling or trenching comes on top of the equipment. |
| Work outside | Air-sourceA day or two for the pad, the line set and the unit. | Ground-sourceA drill rig or excavator on the lot for days, sometimes a couple of weeks. Lawn and drive need repair. |
| Work inside | Air-sourceWall heads or an air handler. The old system can stay as backup. | Ground-sourceThe old furnace or boiler comes out, loop headers go in, and a unit goes in the basement or a utility room. |
| In the coldest weeks | Air-sourceOutput and efficiency fall with the air. A backup covers the coldest hours. | Ground-sourceSteady. The ground does not drop as fast as the air. |
| The lot | Air-sourceNeeds a spot for one outdoor unit. Almost any lot has one. | Ground-sourceNeeds room for bores or a trench and a path for the rig. Ledge or a steep slope can raise the cost or rule it out. |
| Equipment you see | Air-sourceAn outdoor unit that hums and needs clearing after snow. | Ground-sourceNothing outside. The equipment is indoors. |
| Cooling and hot water | Air-sourceCools. Hot water is a separate heat pump water heater. | Ground-sourceCools from the same loop and can preheat the water heater. |
| What lasts | Air-sourceOutdoor units face the weather, so plan on replacing them sooner. | Ground-sourceThe buried loop is the long-lived part. The unit indoors is replaced like any other. |
| Who it suits | Air-sourceA first cost you need low, a tight lot, or a house that is already well sealed. | Ground-sourceA house or building you will keep for many winters, with a big heating bill. |
The order of work
From site visit to first winter, in five steps.
Site visit and heat-loss check
We walk the house or building, read last winter’s fuel or electric use, and work out how much heat it actually needs.
You get the ground-source scope and, where it makes sense, an air-source one beside it. Neither is padded to make the other look good.
Randolph walks the lot with you and flags where the rig can go, where the pipes would run and what gets restored afterward.
Drilling and the loop
Our drilling partner sets the bores. We connect, flush and pressure-test the loop before anything is buried.
Inside work and start-up
We set the unit, connect the ducts or radiators, then come back after the first month to check flows and settings.
Retrofits, not new builds
An old house can keep its radiators.
Most houses we visit already have heat that works. We check each room’s heat loss, then say whether the radiators can run on the cooler water a heat pump makes, whether the ducts are good enough to reuse, or whether one part needs to change.
What we look at first
Air sealing and insulation, because the smallest loop is the one you do not need
Radiator size against each room’s heat loss
The ducts, if there are any, and where they leak
The electric service, which a ground-source unit loads far less than resistance heat
Small institutions
A meeting house and a school wing ask the same question.
Boards do not buy on a phone call. We write for the meeting: the scope, the schedule around your services or school year, and the insurance certificate.
Meeting houses and churches
Heated hard twice a week and barely at all in between. We size for the room you use, and set controls for the empty days.
Schools and child care
A steady daytime load and a quiet summer, which is when the drilling and inside work fit.
Libraries, halls and co-ops
Public buildings with a small maintenance budget and a long future. The loop suits that kind of owner.
Eight of us. These four will be at your house.
Dena Hunt
Field lead
Connects, flushes and pressure-tests the loop, then runs the inside install.
Anjum Trivedi
Controls and commissioning
Sets the pumps, flows and thermostats, and returns after the first month.
Randolph Norton
Site and loop-field coordinator
Marks the bores, schedules the drilling partner and checks the restoration.
What people tell us afterward
“We asked about air-source first. They priced both, told us the loop would cost more and the yard would be torn up for two weeks, and said we could still choose air. We stayed with ground.”
Etta N.Homeowner, East Hill
“The proposal was written for a board: scope, a schedule around our services, the insurance certificate attached. We voted on it in one meeting.”
Linh D.Church trustee, Danby
“Our radiators stayed. They worked out each room’s heat loss first and told us two rooms would need a bigger radiator.”
Mae G.Homeowner, Trumansburg
Sample reviews.
Around Cayuga’s south end
Tompkins County
- Ithaca
- Cayuga Heights
- Dryden
- Freeville
- Groton
- Lansing
- Trumansburg
- Newfield
- Danby
- Enfield
- Slaterville Springs
Neighboring counties
- Cortland
- Homer
- Candor
- Owego
- King Ferry
- Moravia
- Montour Falls
We do not take jobs around Syracuse, Binghamton or Elmira, or on lots a drill rig cannot reach.
ZIP codes: 13045, 13053, 13068, 13073, 13077, 13118, 13827, 14817, 14850, 14867, 14881, 14882, 14886
Questions we hear before the site visit
Will ground-source pay for itself in my house?
It depends on what you spend heating now, how long you will stay and how much the loop field costs on your lot. We run that against an air-source quote and show you both, with the assumptions written down.
Do I need to keep a backup heat source?
Often not for ground-source, because the loop holds its temperature through the cold weeks. With air-source we may leave the old furnace or add electric strips for the coldest hours. The proposal says which.
Will you tear up my yard?
The drill rig leaves ruts and the trench for the pipe leaves a line. We mark the path with you first and say in writing what we restore. Grass takes a season to look like it did.
What do New York State or my utility offer?
Programs change, so we check the current terms with you before you sign. We do not print amounts here. Ask us what your state or utility offers when you book.
If I drop gas, do I still need a carbon monoxide alarm?
Yes, if any appliance in the house still burns fuel, such as a gas range or a water heater. If an alarm sounds, leave the house and call 911 before anything else, then call us.
Can a church or school board get a written proposal?
Yes. We write it for the meeting: scope, schedule around your calendar, the insurance certificate and what is left out. Boards can take it away and compare it with an air-source bid.
Book the site visit.
Tell us what the building is and how it is heated. We call back in office hours to set a time.
Call(607) 555-0100
Office hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Saturday – SundayToday
- Closed