What Does Geothermal Do to My Electric Bill?
4.8 stars, 300+ Google reviews
It lowers the energy your heating and cooling uses, and ENERGY STAR certified geothermal heat pumps are on average over 45% more energy efficient than standard options. That is not a promise about your total bill. Heating and cooling is only part of what your meter counts, so the whole-bill drop is smaller.
★ 4.8 stars, 300+ Google reviews
I am starting with the disappointing version on purpose, because the internet has been promising people half off their power bill for years and I have to sit at the kitchen table afterward when it does not happen.
Energy use is not the same as your bill
Your electric meter counts everything. Water heater, refrigerator, lights, laundry, the well pump, the deep freeze in the garage, every device in the house. Heating and cooling is a large slice of that, often the largest single slice, but it is a slice.
Geothermal works on the heating and cooling slice. Shrink that slice and the total bill goes down by a smaller proportion than the slice did. That is just arithmetic, and any contractor who blurs it is setting you up to be disappointed on the first statement.
- What changes
- Your heating and cooling energy use. How far it drops depends on your house and the system you are replacing.
- What does not change
- Water heating, appliances, lighting, well pump, and everything else on the meter.
- Therefore
- The whole-bill drop is real but smaller than the HVAC drop. Anyone promising to cut your power bill in half is overselling.
It moves heat instead of making it
A geothermal heat pump does not make heat, it moves heat that already exists in the ground. Because moving is cheaper than making, ENERGY STAR certified geothermal heat pumps are on average over 45% more energy efficient than standard options.
Compare that with electric resistance heat, where a dollar of electricity buys you a dollar of heat and not a penny more. That comparison is the entire reason the savings can be dramatic for some houses and modest for others. It all depends on what you are replacing.
What you replace decides what you save
- Propane
- The biggest swing in Oklahoma. Getting off propane is where the biggest change happens, because the propane cost disappears entirely.
- Electric resistance heat
- Very large change. Resistance heat turns each unit of electricity into one unit of heat, and a geothermal heat pump moves more heat than the electricity it uses.
- An old, failing AC or heat pump
- Substantial, especially if it was oversized, short cycling, or losing charge.
- A modern high-efficiency gas furnace
- The smallest change on the electric side, and your gas bill goes away while your electric bill goes up. Whether the combined number falls depends on your gas rate.
If you are on gas today, understand what actually happens: the heat moves onto the electric meter. The electric side goes up, the gas side goes away, and the honest question is what the two bills add up to afterward. For propane customers that trade is overwhelming. For cheap natural gas it is much closer.
I am not going to hand you a dollar figure on a web page
Your actual result depends on the size and envelope of the house, the shape of the duct system, your utility rate, your thermostat habits, and what you replaced. Any number I invent here would be marketing, not math.
What I will do is run your house. Bring me a recent bill and tell me what you heat with, and I will tell you what to expect and where the uncertainty is.
One more honest thing: give it a full year before you judge it. One mild month proves nothing in either direction, and rates move on their own. A heating season and a cooling season together is the first fair look you get.
And if the up-front cost is the real obstacle rather than the savings math, that is a different conversation with better answers than it used to have: a $0 down geothermal lease where one monthly payment covers the system, the loop, the maintenance, and the repairs, or geothermal financing including up to 18 months at 0% through Synchrony.
Bill questions people ask
Does geothermal really cut your bill in half?
Nobody can honestly promise that. It lowers the energy your heating and cooling uses, and ENERGY STAR certified geothermal heat pumps are on average over 45% more energy efficient than standard options. Heating and cooling is only part of your meter, so the total bill drops by less. The customers who see the biggest change are the ones leaving propane or electric resistance heat, and I will look at your system and your bills and tell you what to expect.
Will my electric bill go up if I switch from gas to geothermal?
The electric side goes up because your heat now runs on electricity, and the gas bill goes away. Whether the combined total drops depends on what you were paying for gas or propane. Propane customers see the biggest improvement.
Why does geothermal cost less to run?
It moves heat instead of making it, so it delivers more heat than the electricity it uses. That is why a machine that costs more up front can cost less to run, and ENERGY STAR certified geothermal heat pumps are on average over 45% more energy efficient than standard options.
Why did my bill not drop as much as I expected?
Usually the duct system, the envelope, or a thermostat set differently than before. It can also be that the system was sized or commissioned poorly. Flow, loop pressure, and the temperature split across the heat exchanger will tell us which one it is.
Does a desuperheater lower my bill too?
It preheats your domestic hot water using heat the system is already moving, so the savings follow runtime. Biggest in summer when the system is rejecting the most heat, smallest in the mild shoulder seasons.
What does geothermal maintenance cost each year?
Geothermal maintenance plans are Geo One Visit Spring or Fall 360 at $360/year, Geo Spring and Fall 360 at $428/year, and Geo Full Year 360 at $499/year. Visit scope follows the current agreement and HCP service setup. A geothermal diagnostic on its own is $348 flat, which is a full performance audit with a written report before I leave.
Bring me a bill and I will run the real numbers
Tell me what you heat with and what you pay now, and I will give you an honest range for your house instead of a national average. Estimates on a new system are free.
New system estimates are free. Geothermal is statewide across Oklahoma, not just my seven daily service counties.