Like many progressive Americans, Sean Dague did what he could to combat climate change. He donated money to environmental causes, and replaced all the lightbulbs in his house with energy-efficient LEDs.
And while he eventually planned to replace his oil-based heating system with something more environmentally friendly, he decided to wait and see whether air source heat pumps got better, or geothermal heat pumps got less expensive. There seemed to be time.
A Turning Point
That is, until the 2016 presidential election.
“I felt like we were moving in the right direction, with the federal Clean Power Plan, tax incentives and the Paris climate agreement,” Dague said. “It was progress, and then after the election, they announced that all that stuff’s going to be rolled back. …Climate’s really important, and we’re not going to get any action at the federal level now, so everyone who cares about this has to do more themselves.”
Starting at Home: Energy Efficiency Upgrades
The 41-year-old IBM software engineer joined his local chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. He and his wife decided to begin reducing their home’s carbon footprint by re-insulating their attic and replacing their aging, oil-based furnace. More than 40 percent of the average home’s energy use is consumed by heating alone.
Builders constructed their four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home in New York’s Hudson Valley in 1960. The original oil tank still sits in place. The oil furnace is about 25 years old. The air conditioning unit is 13 years old. The hot water heater is newer because the original unit ruptured sometime after the couple bought the house in 2004. They use around 700 gallons of oil each winter.
Weighing the Cost of Replacement
An HVAC company gave the family a ballpark estimate of around $16,000 to replace their existing system. The quote included a conventional, high-efficiency furnace and a quieter, more energy-efficient air conditioner. Their home sits on bedrock. Although Sean had considered a renewable geothermal heating and air conditioning system in the past, he believed drilling in his backyard would be cost-prohibitive.
“I had wanted to figure out a way to get us off oil for the past couple years,” Dague said. “The reason why I hadn’t explored geothermal at all was that it was going to be $40,000. That’s a different ballpark, and I’m not sure we can dive there.”
Discovering a Geothermal Option with Dandelion
With Dandelion’s $20,000 geothermal system (after a geothermal rebate from NYSERDA), that “came in a lot closer to the numbers we were thinking,” he said. “We had this number in our head, that getting this giant oil tank out of our basement is going to be $16,000. We could get it out and not be burning fossil fuels anymore for not much more? Let’s just do that.”
His friends and neighbors show intense interest in the family’s investment with Dandelion. They also want to hear about their experience after the first winter with a renewable heating and air conditioning system.
“I’m OK being the prototype on this one, because it’s important,” Dague said.
From Oil to Geothermal
Dandelion, in partnership with local installation partner Aztech Geothermal, will pull out the family’s oil tank, furnace, and air conditioner, and replace it with an electric heating and air conditioning system made more efficient by a geothermal ground loop. Geothermal systems remain the world’s most energy-efficient alternative to conventional heating and air conditioning.
“I work in an industry where I’m quite reasonably compensated. We can and should do everything we can do here,” Dague said. “This house was built in 1960, so making it a ‘net zero’ house is probably not in the cards, but it can be a lot better than it was, and that’s important for us living in it now, and it’s also important for the next people who live here, as it’ll use less energy and won’t require fossil fuels to heat.”
