Geothermal energy: pros and cons?!

There are probably already tons of questions like this. But I just have to ask it again;

What do you think of the heating option geothermal energy? Who has built with it? Advantages/disadvantages? How do you all heat?

Best regards!

The question is not easily answered.

Especially with geothermal energy, precise planning and execution are particularly important and have a significant impact on efficiency. If the framework conditions (e.g. building envelope, underfloor heating, etc.) are suitable, geothermal energy is an option.

We ourselves ([Neubau 2011/12, Kfw 70]) have a heat pump with probes.

However, when the total investment pays off compared to gas, no one can say for sure because no one can predict future energy prices.

Low heating costs (despite the increase in electricity prices in recent years) are offset by higher investment and greater system complexity.

Best regards

Hello,

basically, I think geothermal heating systems are a great thing.

Therefore, our plan was also to install such a heating system in our new building (construction starts next week).

However, we were alarmed and made very thoughtful by a geothermal drilling heavily advertised with great fanfare in a neighboring town in summer 2011 – three days after the drilling, several houses in the neighborhood suddenly subsided a bit, which led to massive cracks in the buildings.

Well, that may initially be the problem of the executing company or their insurance, but considering the fact that we are building in a relatively small town where almost everyone knows everyone else, we wouldn’t even want to show our faces in the town after such a failed drilling – regardless of whether we had complied with all regulations or not...

Therefore, our house will now get an air-to-water heat pump and a photovoltaic system on the roof.

With this, we should be able to produce heat and hot water cost-neutrally in the future.

Regards,

Dirk

Hi Doc.Schnaggls,

then a trench collector would also be an option for you – as long as the property fits?

By the way, has it become clear in your neighboring town what the cause was? How deep were the drillings?

Best regards

PS: Gas is still the favorite – even though at least every month there is a report about a huge gas explosion where a house was "blown away"...

And good luck with your building...!

Hello! Thank you for your answers! We will most likely build extensively with Ytong. The plot is 641 sqm. The living area will be about 140 sqm. 3 children. In the same settlement, a house with geothermal energy has already been built. I want to ring the doorbell there tomorrow and ask. Everyone also advises us to use gas. Especially because there is already a gas connection there and almost everyone up there refuels with liquefied gas. However, I resist that. Best regards & have a good start to next week!

Hi Cascada,

Thanks for the good wishes!

We also thought about surface or trench collectors, but at our property there is solid rock starting at a depth of 3 m, so nothing could have been done without (expensive) blasting.

The drilling in the neighboring town was just under 80 m deep. The final cause is said to be that a larger cavity was hit during the drilling, which then collapsed three days later. So at least the worst-case scenario did not happen, that one hits gypsum keuper, which then keeps swelling and causing damage.

But even with this "small" mishap, 24 houses were severely damaged – the damage amounts to several million euros...

Gas is absolutely fine; if a house is blown apart by a gas explosion, 99.9% of the time someone who doesn’t understand the system tampered with it.

However, we did not want gas because we wanted to become independent from fossil fuels.

Regards,

Dirk