Geothermal heat pumps will reduce your heating and cooling costs regardless of how well your home is insulated. However, insulating and weatherizing are key factors in realizing the most savings from any type of heating and cooling system. The illustration below shows typical insulating standards suggested by many electric utilities. You may wish to contact your utility for recommendations on your home. Desuperheaters are standard on some units, optional on others.
Most units are easy to install, especially when they are replacing another forced-air system.
They can be installed in areas unsuitable for fossil fuel furnaces because there is no combustion, thus, no need to vent exhaust gases. Ductwork must be installed in homes that don't have an existing air distribution system. The difficulty of installing ductwork will vary and should be assessed by a contractor. Split systems can easily be added to existing furnaces for those wishing to have a dual-fuel heating system. Dual-fuel systems use the heat pump as the main heating source and a fossil fuel furnace as a supplement in extremely cold weather if additional heat is needed.