If you have a question that you do not see answered here, please e-mail it to us at geothermal@mjdmechanical.com

MJD Mechanical geothermal installation FAQ

Is it possible to retrofit my existing home with geothermal?

Answer:

The answer to this question will vary upon what type of heating system currently exists in your home. Some cases are extremely easy to retrofit. Some cases require a little bit more work. It is easiest to answer this question using a few cases. In all cases a geothermal loop field must be installed somewhere on the property with a 1 1/4" header and footer pipe run into the building's mechanical room.

Case #1
Existing system - Radiant in-floor heating with a natural gas or electric boiler. This is probably the easiest system to retrofit. The boiler is unhooked from the in-floor manifold and discarded. The ground source heat pump is placed where the boiler was and hooked up to the manifold and the geothermal loop field. It is about as simple as that.

Case #2
Existing system - Forced air furnace with duct system. In this case, the ease of a retrofit depends upon the size of your existing duct system. Econar and Hydron Module move about double the CFM (cubic feet / minute) that conventional furnaces do. Therefore the duct size is usually at least 25% larger. If you are in an older home (40+ years), the duct size may already be large enough. It is less likely that it will be of proper size if your home is under 40 years old. A retrofit is still possible but will most likely require a bit more renovation.

Case #3
Existing system - Hydronic radiant baseboard with natural gas boiler. A retrofit is not possible on this existing system without major renovations to the home. Hydronic baseboard heating requires water temperatures in excess of 160 degrees F. Geothermal (being a low mass heat) provides a maximum of 130 degree water. This is excellent for radiant in-floor applications but unfortunately falls short in temperature for radiant baseboard heated homes.