Dandelion launched and spun out from Google X (Alphabet’s moonshot factory) in 2017, with the mission of making geothermal heating and cooling affordable and attainable for all.
Since it’s founding, Dandelion has installed thousands of residential geothermal systems and over one million linear feet of ground loops across the United States. The nation’s leading homebuilders partner with Dandelion to bring the unmatched comfort, cost savings, and sustainability of geothermal to their buyers.
Dandelion has done 2,000+ residential installations to date, as well as new home developments (both single family, townhouses and multifamily) and commercial projects. Dandelion offers both complete geothermal installations as well as standalone drilling services.
Dandelion Energy partners with homebuilders across the United States to deliver vertically integrated geothermal HVAC systems. By managing design, engineering, drilling, ground loop installation, heat pump provisioning, and available incentives under one roof, Dandelion makes geothermal the easiest, smartest HVAC decision a builder can make — and the most valuable upgrade a homebuyer can receive.
Dandelion uses industry-standard equations to determine ground loop length. Ground loop length is a function of the heating and cooling requirements of the building, geology, and characteristics of the geothermal system being installed. Read this article for an in-depth explanation of how ground loop length is determined.
Choosing Dandelion means adding high-efficiency geothermal to your build without the typical logistical headaches. We act as a turnkey partner, managing everything from specialized drilling and system design to the final installation.
By leveraging proven scale (3,000+ installs) and builder-friendly coordination, we integrate seamlessly with your existing trades to keep your project on schedule. Our goal is to provide industry-leading technology at the lowest possible cost, allowing you to offer a premium, sustainable home while maintaining your margins.
Drilling for a geothermal system, whether for a residential heat pump or a larger commercial project, is rarely a “one size fits all” process. Because the earth’s composition changes every few miles, the difficulty and cost are determined by four primary factors:
1. The Type of Rock and Soil (Lithology)The geology of your property is the biggest variable.
- Less Difficult: Soft sedimentary rocks like shale or sandstone, and consolidated soils like clay, are generally easy to penetrate with standard rotary bits.
- More Difficult: Hard crystalline rocks like granite, basalt, or quartz require specialized heavy-duty equipment and pneumatic hammers. While these materials are more expensive to drill through, they often have excellent heat transfer properties.
- Less Difficult: Uniform soil profiles allow the driller to maintain a steady pace without changing equipment.
- More Difficult: Regions with glacial till contain a unpredictable mix of dirt and massive boulders. Hitting a large, hard boulder in the middle of soft soil can deflect the drill bit, damage the rig, or require the hole to be abandoned and restarted.
- Less Difficult: A stable, predictable water table. Saturated soil is actually a “plus” for the system’s eventual performance because water conducts heat better than dry pockets of air.
- More Difficult: Artesian wells (where water is under pressure and flows to the surface) or “voids” in limestone (karst) can cause the drilling fluid to disappear. This makes it difficult to clear rock cuttings out of the hole and can lead to borehole collapse.
- Less Difficult: Wide-open, flat yards that allow a rig to stabilize itself easily.
- More Difficult: Steep slopes, heavily wooded lots, or tight urban spaces. If a driller has to use “limited access” or “compact” rigs, the process takes longer and may be limited in how deep it can go.
Solar panels and geothermal heat pumps are complementary products: solar panels produce electricity using sunlight, and geothermal heat pumps use electricity to move thermal energy (heat) between the ground and the home. Homeowners can use solar and geothermal in tandem to achieve a netzero home. One of the advantages of a geothermal heat pump compared to an air source heat pump is that it uses so much less electricity to produce a given amount of heating or cooling. This means that a homeowner is able to use rooftop solar to cover a much greater fraction of the load of a geothermal heat pump than they would an air source heat pump, especially in colder climates.
Dandelion Geothermal is an all-electric heating and cooling solution with a powerful heat pump featuring underground pipes (the ground loop) that harvests the heat from the earth and uses the constant ground temperature to more efficiently heat and cool homes. Dandelion helps maintain a consistent indoor temperature year-round without the use of fossil fuels or natural gas.
The geothermal system has 3 components: the ground loop, the heat pump and the distribution system. The ground loop absorbs heat from the constant underground earth temperature. That is transferred to the heat pump and then is circulated throughout the home. The flow of the system changes between winter and summer to give the most consistent temperature year-round.
- Winter: Water circulates through the ground loop, where itʼs warmed up by the earth. The warmed water flows back into the geothermal heat pump, which concentrates the heat and distributes it throughout the house. The water returns to the earth to repeat the process.
- Summer: Warm air from the home is drawn into the geothermal heat pump. The heat is extracted and pumped into the ground loop, where it is cooled by the earth. The now cool air is blown back through the house.
If the home maintains temperature comfortably and consistently, it is operating as designed. If there are ever concerns, performance can be verified with a service visit.
Maintenance for your geothermal system is very simple.
- Replace air filters
- Keep the condensate drain clear
Geothermal systems last 2-3x longer than traditional HVAC systems.
- Heat pump: 15–20+ years
- Ground loop: 50–100+ years
The loop is considered long-term infrastructure.
If homeowners have any issues with their HVAC, they should contact their new home’s customer care team. Homeowners can also choose to hire their own servicer outside of any warranty claims. The process for this is very similar to any other HVAC system they would have.