Why Buy Geothermal From Hartzell’s
There is nothing wrong with geothermal. There is something wrong with who has been working on it. A system does not fail because the technology failed. It fails because somebody sized it wrong, buried the loop wrong, or never learned how the machine works. At Hartzell’s, geothermal is my thing, not a sideline.
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I am Dave Hartzell, 47 years in this trade, 15 plus running my own shop in Kingfisher. On a $25,000 to $40,000 job you deserve to know why the low bid is low.
If somebody told you geothermal is nothing but trouble, they were not lying
I hear the same three sentences all over this state. It never kept up in August. Two companies came out and neither knew what they were looking at. It cost me thousands and it still does the same thing.
Those homeowners are telling the truth. What gets missed is that the machine was almost never the problem. A geothermal heat pump is simpler than the condenser baking in your side yard, and it lives indoors out of the weather. What failed was a person.
The four ways a geothermal system actually goes bad
None of that is the technology’s fault. Heat pumps do not need to improve. Technicians do.
That is exactly what IGSHPA accreditation is for
IGSHPA is the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association. Accreditation is training plus a written exam on the ground side: sizing the loop to the load and the soil, heat fusing polyethylene joints so the joint is not the weak point, purging the air out, grouting a bore for real contact with the earth, antifreeze and pressure. It is kept current.
An Oklahoma HVAC license says I am qualified on the equipment. It says nothing about what happens underground. Most heating and air companies in this state do not carry the geothermal accreditation, and that is not an insult. It is a small slice of the work here.
I did not skip it, because a warranty covers the equipment and not a loop that went in wrong. Alongside it: a Master HVAC license, NATE certification, ClimateMaster GeoElite. For fundamentals, start with how a geothermal heat pump works and what a ton means.
You only buy the ground loop once
Geothermal is two purchases, the machine and the loop. The machine is recoverable. When it quits in twenty some years, somebody unbolts it and sets a new one in its place. The loop is not. It is pipe fused into a sealed circuit, dropped in a trench or down a bore, grouted in and covered over. It is part of the property, expected to work for around 50 years.
Done right it outlives several generations of equipment. Done wrong there is no do over. You live with it, and so does whoever buys the house from you. Which is why I want you slow on closed loop versus open loop and horizontal versus vertical versus pond.
An uninsured crew on your land does not make the risk disappear
I carry workman’s compensation and general liability through Federated Insurance, and I will have the carrier send you proof before a machine rolls onto your property.
A geothermal install works a drill rig or a trencher near your water line, your septic lateral and your buried electric. People get hurt and things get broken doing that. When the company carries comp and liability, a carrier stands behind the job. When it does not, the risk does not evaporate, it moves, and the property owner is standing where it lands. Ask every bidder for that certificate, me included.
A truck and a phone number is not a geothermal company
A labor warranty is a promise, worth what the company is worth the day you call it in. Loop life is measured in decades, so measure the company the same way. I am 15 plus years in business, BBB A plus for 11.
The cheapest bid usually comes from an operation with almost no overhead. No shop, no comp policy, no parts on the truck, no money set aside to send a technician back free on a warranty call. Nothing wrong with a small operation, I started as one. Know what is not in the price.
On my estimate the loop is its own line, roughly 200 feet of bore per ton, because package pricing hides it and a hidden loop gets cut. I service geothermal statewide across Oklahoma, not only my seven daily counties. A geothermal diagnostic is $348 flat, day or night. Replacement work is quoted separately before approval. Estimates on a new system are free, and there is a $0 down geothermal lease and financing, up to 18 months at 0% through Synchrony.
What I will not tell you
I will not tell you geothermal is the cheap option. It costs more up front, every time. It is premium, and it earns that back over a long horizon. If the house is on cheap natural gas, or the ducts need more work than you want, I will say so. Whether it is worth it depends on what you heat with.
I will not promise you a federal residential tax credit. Check current IRS and ENERGY STAR guidance and talk to your tax professional before you count a dollar of it. Bring me your address and I will check the Oklahoma utility rebates verified active where you live.
I will not tell you it cuts your bill in half. The honest version is about half of your heating and cooling energy use versus an old system, one slice of what your meter counts. Underneath it is roughly $4.50 of heat per $1 of electricity, which is what COP means. Here is what it does to an electric bill.
Questions homeowners ask before they pick a geothermal contractor
Why do people say geothermal is hard to work on in Oklahoma?
Because most technicians trained on air source equipment, and a water to air machine does not read the same. Loop water temperatures, coax pressure drop and flow are what matter, and a technician never taught those condemns good parts.
What does IGSHPA accredited mean for a geothermal installer in Oklahoma?
The installer completed International Ground Source Heat Pump Association training and passed a written exam on the ground side: loop sizing, heat fusing pipe joints, purging, grouting bores, antifreeze and pressure. An HVAC license covers the equipment only.
How do I check that a geothermal contractor is insured?
Ask for a certificate of insurance sent straight from the carrier, showing workman’s compensation and general liability, not a photocopy handed to you at the house. I carry both through Federated Insurance.
How much does a geothermal diagnostic cost in Kingfisher Oklahoma?
$348 flat, any hour, weekday or weekend. No after hours uplift on geothermal, and no credit or refund. A new system estimate is separate and free.
Do you install geothermal outside Kingfisher County Oklahoma?
Yes. Geothermal is statewide across Oklahoma for installation and service. My seven county daily territory, Kingfisher, Canadian, Oklahoma, Garfield, Major, Logan and Blaine, governs standard work only. Call 405-375-4822 wherever you are in the state.
Geothermal does not need to get better. The people working on it do.
That is why geothermal is my thing instead of a line on a service menu. I will walk the property, look at the ground, the ducts and what you heat with, then give you a straight answer with the loop priced separately.
Master HVAC License · NATE Certified · IGSHPA Accredited · ClimateMaster GeoElite · BBB A plus 11 years · Federated Insurance.