Air Conditioners vs. heat pumps

Heat pumps can be interesting alternatives to central air conditioners.

Like air conditioners, heat pumps are electric-powered, but they use much less electricty, specially the geothermal heat pumps. And they provide both heating and cooling.

See: Heat Pumps Basics.

Air Heat pumps and Geothermal Heat Pumps

According to EPA, geothermal heat pumps provide electricity savings up to 72% (when compared to air-conditioning), while air heat pumps provide savings about half that value...

If your duct system is sufficient to support a high-capacity geothermal heat pump, and if the ground around your home supports the pre-conditions demanded by geothermal (digging a hole and installing a pipe system), this type of heat pumps can be an excellent investment to reduce cooling bills.

See: Installing a Geothermal Heat Pump

Geothermal heat pumps versus air conditioners/Furnaces Systems

Geothermal heat pumps involve an higher investment than central air conditioners: while a standard central air conditioning system may cost you between $3,000 and $6,000 (for homes with ductwork), an equivalent geothermal heat pump (installation included) can easily cost you something around $7,000 to $12,000 (an air-source heat pump cost is closer to that of a central air conditioning).

On the other hand, according to the Energy Savings Trust, a geothermal heat pump may provide energy savings of $1,300-$1,500 per year relatively to air conditioners (and will also avoid the production of around 4-5 tonnes of CO2 per year, that is, around 100 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime).

Bottom Line

If your cooling bills are sufficiently high, since the energy savings provided by a geothermal heat pump may easily attain $1,000 per year (relatively to a central air conditioner/furnace system), you may recover the initial extra investment demanded by the geothermal heat pump in 6 years or less.

But all depends on details concerning your home, the installation of the heat pump and on your cooling and heating consumption.