Ground-source heating and cooling for a house you already live in.
A ground-source heat pump moves heat between your house and the ground through a loop of buried pipe. We retrofit them into houses with radiators, with ducts, or with neither. You need it when the heating bill is large, the equipment is near the end of its life and you plan to stay.
Signs a house is a good candidate.
A large heating bill
Oil, propane or electric heat in an older house is where the loop has most to save.
Equipment near its end
A boiler or furnace you will replace soon makes the extra cost of the loop easier to weigh.
Room on the lot
Open lawn or a driveway a rig can reach, with space between bores.
A plan to stay
The loop pays back slowly. If you are selling in a few years, air-source is usually the better fit.
Radiators or ducts that work
Good distribution means the change is mostly the heat source.
A house that is sealed well enough
Or one where you will seal it first, so the loop is smaller.
What happens at the visit.
- 01
Step 1: We arrive and walk the house
Basement, boiler or furnace, radiators, the electric panel and the yard.
- 02
Step 2: We read your bills
A winter of fuel or electric use shows how much heat the house really needs.
- 03
Step 3: We mark the lot
Where a rig could go, where pipe could run and what is in the way.
- 04
Step 4: You get a written proposal
Ground-source, and air-source beside it where it makes sense, before any work is booked.
What drives the cost of a house.
The loop field
Bore depth and count, the soil and rock, a trench or not, and how far the rig has to reach.
The heat pump
Its size from the heat-loss number, and whether it is single- or variable-speed.
Radiators or ducts
Reusing what is there, or changing the rooms that need it.
Electric service
Whether the panel and service have room for the unit.
Permits and restoration
Local permits, and the lawn or drive we repair afterward.
Removal of the old system
A boiler or oil tank leaving the basement.
Questions about houses.
Can my radiators stay?
Often, after we check each room’s heat loss against the water temperature a heat pump makes. Some rooms may need a larger radiator. We list those in the proposal.
Can I keep my ducts?
If they are sized for the airflow and sealed. We test them at the visit and say what to change.
What if my lot is small or sloped?
Deep vertical bores need less ground than a trench, so a small lot can still work. Ledge or a steep slope can add to the cost. We say so before you decide.
What stays and what goes inside?
The old furnace or boiler is removed, a unit takes its place or sits near it, and the loop headers come in through a basement wall.
See what your house would need.
A site visit gets you a written proposal and an air-source quote beside it.