Check around in your area, don't take the first estimate as the real number. There can be a lot of variation from contractor to contractor. However, with geothermal, there might not be too many choices.
We looked into it maybe10-12 years ago when we were looking into building because we couldn't find land with a small house that we could afford (found one since). If I remember correctly, it would be 12,000.....or was it 20? I think it was less if building from the ground up, more for an existing house. There was only one company around here at the time.
I do remember that the systems were known to rarely need any repair and not much maintainence. And with the savings, the entire cost would be recouped in 10 years with average use, and they system would last at least 50, they weren't old enough to know how much longer they would last. So very cost effective in the long run.
I would definitely look into it if we were to build in the future, or if the town ever gets to our house with city sewage, so we wouldn't have the leach field right behind the house. They have to dig a hole the size of a swimming pool near the house for the system to be underground. We don't have that here with the leaching field. Our lot is too narrow to do anything on either side or the front.
Just asked dh, he said it was around 10 grand, and a friend of his recently looked into it and it was 12-15. With the price of fuel more than double what it was when we checked it out, it seems like a no-brainer. I bet there might be tax credits, too, or soon.
Please consider water usage, too. If you go with an open system (versus closed loop), it can use significant amounts of water. We have family installing one in their new home that could pump as much as 25,000 gallons of water on an extreme temperature day! So, please consider costs beyond the actual $.
We live on a large lake and got an estimate for a system to run pipes into it. About 8 years ago the price was around $30,000.00, so it was out of the question for us.
This is a late post, but I would like to give my feedback. My husband and I had Geothermal installed about two years ago. Before that we had baseboard heat and two window air conditioners. Our utility bill (electric) was even billing 185.00 on a coop. Our house is about 1400 sf one floor. Since we have installed this system (waterfurnace), our even billing is 165.00 which we pay only 11 months of the year. We had our hot water heater attached to the system (closed system in our lake) and we have central air. We also had to have ductwork installed. It cost us $15,000. It was well worth the price. We only received a tax break of $300.00. Today you would be able to get a bigger tax break.
average size house my hubby does use to be quoted at around $15,000 now it is up to just under $20,000 that is existing home with duck work already in if I remember correctly.
That may be Nightshade, but you would have to compare what it would cost for a regular system plus air conditioning because a regular system is a separate furnace and air conditioner and you save heating your hot water if the hot water heater is connected to the system. You also have to consider what part of the country your in. East and West coasts are more expensive.