I think we will try again next year.

Right now, we have a full list of repairs/improvements: Replacing screened
porch and patio, tightening up house, adding new insulation, extending the
heating/AC into other parts of the house, etc, etc.

I was surprised by the high over-the-phone estimate we got, and there may have
been a misunderstanding. Next time, I'll have them come out to the house and
take measurements.

--

Duane Bozarth wrote:
An "electric furnace" other than some (standard) resistance "emergency
heat" resistance elements shouldn't be necessary at all if you have
sufficient ground loop capacity--and if you don't have sufficient ground
loop capacity you don't have a geothermal system. It got to -22F one
morning in Knoxville and the backup heaters only ran for a short time at
that. Our installation had an outside thermocouple set up to keep the
resistance heaters off until air temps were below 20F -- never felt a
need to raise that setpoint.

You need an onsite sizing calculation and evaluation for loop
placement/installation by a competent Water Furnace
distributor/installer. I'm guessing it will cost from $5k to $10k more
than a high SEER good quality air exchange system, but ime the operating
costs will compensate for a great deal of that and the comfort factor of
the higher quality heat relative to the air exchange unit will make you
relish it. Plus, the lack of noisy air exchanger outside for the air
conditioning unit is another plus....


--
Tony Karp, TLC Systems Corp
Techno-Impressionist Museum: http://www.techno-impressionist.com
TLC Systems: http://www.tlc-systems.com