Alternative heating, cooling method offered by Springboro company

Geothermal heating, cooling systems get an assist from Mother Earth to keep homeowners cozy.

Paul Jones, an installer for Climate Dragon, shows a geothermal furnace system the company is installing in a Clearcreek Twp. home. The furnace works by exchanging underground heat from pipes buried below the frost line in the homeowner’s yard.

Staff photo by Ty Greenlees Paul Jones, an installer for Climate Dragon, shows a geothermal furnace system the company is installing in a Clearcreek Twp. home. The furnace works by exchanging underground heat from pipes buried below the frost line in the homeowner’s yard.

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By Thomas Gnau, Staff Writer Updated 9:28 PM Wednesday, September 23, 2009

CLEARCREEK TWP. — It’s a system of heating and cooling that has been described as moving heat, not making it.

Joe Couture, owner of Springboro’s Climate Dragon LLC, calls it his business — or part of it, at least.

It’s residential geothermal energy, and a Climate Dragon crew has been installing a geothermal unit at a home off Terrace Creek Court.

Serving as both furnace and air conditioner, the geothermal heat pump is connected to a loop of outside pipes, placed in trenches dug 60 to 72 inches in the ground. Within the pipes flows a mixture of water and methanol, which absorbs ground heat, bringing the heat inside during winter. In the summer, the unit takes heat from the house and sends it out to the ground-enclosed pipes.

The unit Paul Jones, a Climate Dragon technician, was installing Wednesday Sept. 23 at the Terrace Creek Court home has auxiliary electric heat as a backup. By Friday, Jones believes, the unit will be ready for the cold months ahead.

The pumps and their installation are pricey. Couture put the total initial cost at just under $20,000. But that outlay is supported by a federal tax credit of 30 percent to consumers who install geothermal heat pumps by Dec. 31, 2016, he noted.

But the units are relatively maintenance-free. “The thing is, once you put one in, you don’t need to worry about it for 30, 40 years,” Couture said.

And they are touted for their energy savings. Said Jones, “If you’re using propane, this pays for itself in five years.” Users of electric and gas will find it likely takes longer to recoup costs, he said.

Climate Dragon sold about six geothermal units last fall, about 25 percent of its business, Couture said. So far this season, he has sold one unit. He expects this part of his business to grow.

Bob Bowman, the Terrace Creek home’s owner, relied on geothermal heating and cooling while living in McClure, Ohio for 13 years.

“I was just impressed with the overall savings I made on heating in the winter and cooling in the summer,” Bowman said. He estimates that he saved about $200 a month in winter heating costs.

When Bowman, a manager at East Fork State Park, moved to Clearcreek Twp. last October, he sought a similar system here, researching his options and calling Climate Dragon. Previously, the home relied on propane.

Couture has a geothermal unit in his Weidner Road home, installed four years ago. He hasn’t looked back, he said.