By Jim Cavan, Green Alliance, Posted on August 27, 2009 in the Green Initiatives section of greenalliance.biz

Portsmouth — When you think of geothermal heating systems, what words immediately come to mind? Big? Complicated? Expensive? Iceland? Whatever the association, the fact is that most people don’t recognize geothermal as a legitimate energy option here in traditionally oil-dependent New England; or that you don’t need an underground source of water to install a geothermal system.
But despite the availability of tax rebates and incentives at both the state and federal levels – the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides a tax credit of up to 30%, while PSNH is offering up to $7500 towards project costs for any number of alternative energy systems – the uncertain economy and other factors have thus far kept most people from taking the geothermal plunge.
However, some local companies are coming up with creative ways to help make their systems even more affordable. American EcoThermal (AET), a growing Portsmouth-based turnkey geothermal heating and cooling provider, for example, now offers long-term financing for its residential units.
Financing might make sense in the context of purchasing a home or a new car – in fact more often than not it is the default option. But financing a home-heating system? While it sounds strange, it really works in much the same way. Typically geothermal systems have to be paid for in full up-front – clearly a major commitment, even given the “payback” period of around 5 years. As an alternative, AET will set a maximum monthly price of $100 per month for any residential system up to six tons in capacity (a house of approximately 3,500 square feet would typically require six tons of heating capacity).
To qualify, the system has to be contracted before October 31st of this year.
In devising the financing option, Shawn Bristow, co-founder of AET, felt his company could lend some semblance of security to the typically volatile nature of home-heating costs.
“A typical New England home of 2,500 square feet costs $25 per day to heat with regular oil during the winter” says Bristow. “By offering our EcoTherm program, we feel confident that New England homeowners can begin the journey toward energy independence.”
Under AET’s EcoTherm program, which was developed earlier this summer, AET owns the exterior portion of the installed geothermal system, also known as Ground Source Heat Exchange. AET then receives monthly payments from the client during a 10 year contract period. At the end of the contract period the client has the option to purchase the exterior portion for a price determined at the beginning of the contract, or they can simply renew the contract. For Bristow and his colleagues at AET, this flexibility inevitably fosters a feeling of certainty within the customer, something rare in our oil-driven age.
“In these difficult economic times, the last thing people need is uncertainty related to their home heating bills”, Bristow explains. “We need to increase our energy independence and geothermal heating and cooling is the safest, cleanest and most cost-effective way to do that,” he added.
Nancy Mangiafico, AET’s Controller, echoes this sentiment: “The program is going to help people who like to know what they’re going to pay – people who saw oil go from three dollars a gallon to five and back again,” says Mangiafico, who, along with her husband Scott, recently financed their own geothermal system through AET’s program. “The reality is that people have to budget, so a program like this gives people that flexibility of knowing – it becomes a solid number they can put in their budget.”
All the possible incentives sound great individually, but AET is quick to point out that you can actually receive all three – the federal tax credit, the state rebate, as well as AET’s financing plan – for the same project. While the state and federal tax incentives cover the interior portion of the system, EcoTherm helps cover the exterior portion of the project, or the drilling and installation of the Heat Exchange.
So far reception to the program has been overwhelmingly positive. But what has surprised Mangiafico in particular is how interest seems to have defied generational appeal. “We’re already getting lots of calls about the program,” she says. “But what has blown me away is the number of people over 60 and 70 – we even had someone who was 85! – who are doing it not just because they’re on a fixed income [through Social Security], but because they feel it’s really the right thing to do.”
Not only that, but we here in New England would be replacing our current disproportionate dependence on foreign oil with something cleaner, cheaper, and local. “Most people don’t realize that New Englanders use more oil to heat their homes than the rest of the country does in driving,” Mangiafico explains. “Think of how big of a burden we’d be eliminating if people were able to tap into the energy that’s right there below them.”