Dan Dean, Design Engineer with Greenland Energy Dynamics

Dan Dean essentially designs and sells renewable energy systems for the home or business.  His company offers a comprehensive approach on a wide variety of "off the grid" and energy reducing solutions including:

• Geothermal
• Solar Electricity
• Wind Turbines
• Water Cooled Air Conditioners
• Radiant Floor Heating
• Monitoring and Control Systems
• Thermal Windows
• Energy Audits
• LED Lighting
• Spray Foam Insulation
• Back up Generators

Dan lists three main components of sustainability.  These are areas that each of us can be aware of and make changes in that would make a difference in our energy costs and reduce our carbon footprint. They are... 

1. Building Materials
2. Energy Usage and Choice 
3. Behavior

According to Dan, we can can expect energy costs to double every 10 years.  To encourage people to make changes in their energy systems the Federal government is offering a  30% Tax Credit until 2016 for renewable energy systems, and a 10% credit on High Efficiency residential HVAC systems for 2011. 

Geothermal is one of the options that Greenland Energy Dynamic recommends, it is up to 90% more efficient than traditional HVAC systems and will significantly reduce the homeowners electricity load.  A geothermal system captures the earth's constant temperature, between 60 to 68 degrees F, to cool the house and heat the home in summer.  The average cost of a geothermal system is about $7000 - $11000 a ton compared to $2000 - $3500 a ton for an standard HVAC system - considerably more upfront cost for a geothermal system, but what is the payback?

The cost for a 5 ton system is about $40,000, minus the $12,000 Federal Tax Credit for a total net cost of about $28,000.  Dan estimated that the homeowner in this scenario has average annual electricity bill of $3600.  A 5 ton geothermal system would cut that bill down to about $1200 a year, netting an annual savings of about  $2000-$2400 or a payback at around 14 years.  Depending on how long a family or person would be in the home, a geothermal system might make perfect sense.  One would also assume that if they moved out before the payoff, that they could recoup a large portion of their investment in the geothermal system on the sale of the home.

So what does all of this mean for me?  I am not sure I am ready to run out and purchase a renewable energy system just yet, but I will strongly consider making the investment before the Federal Tax Credit ends in 2016.