Geothermal energy methods.

By the time the Windcliff neighborhood is completely developed, half to three-fourths of the 45 homes there will have an unusual feature in common.

They will be heated and cooled by the earth below them.

Two homes had geothermal technology installed when they were built. The next two homes to go up will have it, too.

In summer, developers Rodger and Sylvia Brown made the decision to go into the new “green” technology in a big way. They’ve had the infrastructure needed for geothermal technology installed for the 23 lots still available.

That was then …

The Browns thought about installing geothermal when they built their home in Windcliff.

“We looked at geothermal about 10 years ago, when we were building our house,” Sylvia Brown said. “But with the price of propane then, it took a long time to recoup the investment. We built this house with the idea things were going to stay the same.”

… this is now

Then fuel costs went through the roof. While crude oil and related prices have receded from record highs earlier this year, they are still high. Costs for geothermal technology remain constant.

“Two neighbors already had geothermal,” Sylvia Brown said.

One home being built in Windcliff will have geothermal. The Browns plan to build a second home that will include it. Homebuilders who purchase the remaining lots will have the groundwork already laid for the system.

Sylvia Brown said a big factor in deciding to go fully into geothermal was the availability of local expertise.

Rodney Banks, of Banks Heating and Air Conditioning, has been interested in the technology for years. When he convinced the Browns of the benefits, he teamed up with a Red Wing contractor to make geothermal installation and service part of his business.

From the ground up

Through geothermal technology, homeowners’ backyards become an energy source for heating and cooling.

Outdoor air temperatures fluctuate with the changing seasons while temperatures four to six feet below the earth’s surface remain relatively moderate and constant all year.

Earth absorbs 47 percent of all heat energy that reaches its surface from the sun. A geothermal system circulates a water-based solution through a buried loop system to take advantage of the constant underground temperatures.

A single piece of equipment has the ability to heat and cool a home while providing some or all of a home’s hot water as well. Geothermal systems can save 30 to 70 percent on monthly bills. During the heating cycle, the fluid circulates through the loop, extracting heat from the ground. The heat energy is transferred to the geothermal unit. The unit compresses the extracted heat to a high temperature and delivers it into the home through a normal duct system or radiant heat system.

EPA’s OK

A recent study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that geoexchange systems generally have the lowest life-cycle cost of all systems available.

The study also shows that geoexchange systems have the lowest impact on the environment. Consumers rank their comfort and satisfaction with the systems higher than all others.

While a higher initial investment is required, the investment is paid back through low energy bills, enhanced family safety and improved comfort.

Upfront fees

Installation costs are higher than for other heating and air conditioning systems but the savings over time more than make up for it.

Those initial costs will be reduced for future builders at Windcliff.

In fall, the developer and contractor dug huge trenches to lay tubes running to all the remaining lots so that builders will have much of the infrastructure waiting for them.

Sylvia Brown said geothermal is ideal for a development like Windcliff, where construction is taking place on large lots — two to three acres — in a rural setting.

Windcliff Orchards is just south of Lake City on the blufftops overlooking the city just off Wabasha County Highway 9.

The couple decided to partner with Banks to extend geothermal to the remaining lots in their development.

“They will be sold with most of the geothermal paid as part of the lot,” Sylvia said. “We’re pretty excited about the idea of this neighborhood having this.”

“We wanted to add something to our lots that other people weren’t doing,” Sylvia said. “We also wanted to do something for our environment. It’s the energy-conscious thing to do.”

Existing homes

Geothermal technology can be retrofitted to existing homes without having to tear up whole yards.

Special boring equipment, the same equipment used to install fiber optic lines underground, can install underground tubes.

Banks is installing such a system to the Browns’ home, with the help of an Iowa-based subcontractor who supplies and operates the tube-laying equipment.

When the Browns decided to install geothermal for their home and a smaller one they plan to build for themselves, they settled on Banks’ business to do the work mostly because of Rodney Banks’ excitement about the technology.

Once they have finished work on their own development, the Browns plan to take the word to other developers who think they can gain by incorporating the technology.

What convinced the Browns was the experience of their neighbors who heat and cool their homes with geothermal. One neighbor got through the winter last year using only 100 gallons of propane fuel. Another had a winter heating bill of $97.

“They explained their energy costs to us,” Sylvia Brown said. “These people are really enjoying comfortable homes without having to worry about the price of oil and the price of electricity. Everything is less expensive with geothermal.”

Future costs

Once the development is completed, it could experience a combined savings of 50,000 gallons of propane fuel per year or more.

Over time, Sylvia Brown said, lot purchasers will have their lots paid for by fuel cost savings from geothermal.

“You’re having the earth pay for your lot,” she said.

“We’re all going to have to find different ways of doing this,” she said. “This is a way for some homeowners to heat their homes for the future.”

“For rural utility customers specifically who have the advantage of dual fuel and off peak rates, geothermal systems will show you real cash savings in your pocket immediately, even if a loan is needed for the original installation,” Banks said.

“Can you imagine reading the newspaper or watching a newscast and seeing the reports of higher home fuel costs and predicted higher future fuel costs and absolutely not caring, as it will not affect you? You can be totally insulated from the price changes. Not only this, but you can rest easy knowing you are limiting your own carbon footprint by using safer and fossil fuel-free heating and cooling techniques,” Banks said.

Banks said he has joined with Tom Thompson, owner of Sylvander heating, to offer customers interested in geothermal energy the option of having an on-site engineer, experienced technicians and trained installers and servicemen on staff 24 hours a day.

Bruce Carlsrom, of Lake City Federal Bank, agrees that geothermal can be the way to go for homeowners.

“With the cost of heating and cooling homes continuing to climb, consumers are financing the costs of energy-saving measures in their homes, both new and existing. When weighing the initial cost against the energy savings and tax advantages, the cost of the upgrades in the end are small. In some cases, the savings offset the cost in a short period of time,” he said.

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