An earthy (but costly) energy fix: Geothermal

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An earthy (but costly) energy fix: Geothermal

By Silvina Martínez, Bee Staff Writer

(Published Feb. 19, 2001)

Interested in an energy system that cuts your utility bills by 25 to 50 percent, helps save Planet Earth and still keeps you warm in the winter and cool in the summer?

Rene Porter, a tenant in a public-housing complex in the central city, says she has one. Her apartment uses geothermal energy, an alternative that is out of many homeowners' reach because it can cost twice as much to install as conventional heating and air-conditioning systems.

Through piping installed under the ground, a geothermal system transfers the earth's heat, which remains at a fairly constant temperature at this level -- into Porter's home. In the summer, heat is drawn from the apartment back into the ground.

"You set the temperature and go. No matter what the temperature is outside, the place stays the way you want it all year," said Porter, a single mother of two who lives in the River Oaks complex on Seavey Circle. She says her utility bills stay pretty much the same year round.

The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency has installed geothermal systems in about 300 of its aging complexes -- a nontraditional approach for an organization charged with providing no-frills shelter to low-income families.

"We're definitely pioneers in this," said agency spokesman William Boyer. "We get people from all around the world who come here to look at our system. We've gotten people from Japan, Australia, from all over the place."

Geothermal systems are praised for not burning fossil fuels, running on a small amount of electricity and drastically reducing monthly utility bills. A downside is the installation cost, which can average $6,000 to $10,000 for a new home and could be twice that for an older home.

But for several years, SHRA has used modernization grants from the federal Housing and Urban Development Department and installation rebates from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to convert the 50-year-old River Oaks and Dos Rios complexes to geothermal energy.

The agency says it's the first in the Sacramento Valley to use the technology in public housing and claims geothermal cuts tenants' electricity bills by up to 50 percent.

"The people in public housing pay their own utility bills," Boyer said. "When they get the system in one of their units, they are immediately seeing savings."

So far, the agency has spent about $2.5 million -- about $8,000 per unit -- to install geothermal systems for 200 of 386 River Oaks apartments and 100 apartments at the Dos Rios complex near Richards Boulevard and Highway 160. The other units -- all built in the 1950s -- will be converted as grant money becomes available, officials said.

Of the $8,000 for installation, about $2,000 goes toward drilling holes for the closed-loop piping that is the core of the system, Boyer said.

In the winter, this piping draws warmth from the earth. A water-based solution circulating through the pipes carries that warmth to a heat pump installed in a home's basement, attic or closet. That pump then circulates the heat into the rest of the house through air ducts.

In the summer, the process is reversed. Hot air inside the house is drawn back into the piping in the ground outside. The system can use some of that interior heat in the summer to provide hot water.

Though this technology has been used for residential energy in other parts of the country for more than 20 years, it's generally in its infancy in California.

"This technology makes the most sense of any on the market," said Bill Enyeart, SHRA program manager. To encourage homeowners to go geothermal, SMUD has offered installation rebates for the past six years and plans to continue them for another year.

"When the systems are properly installed, their performance is really good," said Bruce Vincent, a SMUD specialist who monitors the geothermal program.

Though only about 5,000 Sacramento homeowners are using geothermal systems, the technology is gaining some popularity, especially in the midst of the state's energy crisis, experts said. "The system is definitely starting to pick up," Vincent said.

Kyle Venolia's housing situation couldn't be any more different from Rene Porter's, but he also applauds geothermal energy. He says the average utility bill for his 5,000-square-foot house in Elk Grove is only about $100 a month since he installed a geothermal system three years ago. His neighbors are paying up to $500.

"It's outstanding," he said. For many other homeowners, installation is too expensive or impractical, but Vincent says the typical homeowner shouldn't rule it out entirely.

"A year ago, I wouldn't have recommended the system for an average single-family home," Vincent said. "I would have said, 'We need to wait for the prices to come down some before it's more cost-effective for customers.' Now, for people with an electric heat pump, I would say, 'Go get some bids and talk with some contractors.' "

-- Swissrose (cellier@azstarnet.com), February 20, 2001

Answers

The other good answer is a corn stove. The initial cost is about $2500.00 for a 50,000 Btu furnace. Cost of corn is about $2.00/ day.

-- John Littmann (littmannj@aol.com), February 20, 2001.

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