Tapping the heat beneath your feet with Kathy Hannun of Dandelion Energy

Geothermal heating and cooling system can reduce carbon emissions and save money for homeowners. Dandelion Energy founder Kathy Hannun discovered that using geothermal heat pumps creates a huge decrease in operating costs compared to traditional heating fuel. Although geothermal pumps are expensive and uncommon, investing in its infrastructure allows access to free heating energy that is already in your yard. If more people adopt this system in the US, it could have a massive impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving people thousands of dollars a year.

Geothermal heating and cooling system uses plastic pipes buried in the ground and a heat pump to circulate water through the pipes, which is heated or cooled by exchanging the heat with a refrigerant that compresses the temperature. The geothermal system works in the same way as a refrigerator or air conditioner. It is a common technology used in many countries. The ground loops needed for this system extend 200 to 500 feet into the ground, which can pose a challenge for residential areas with limited space. However, there are modern advancements that have been made to overcome these challenges. Geothermal heating and cooling is an efficient and environmentally friendly alternative for homes.

Dandelion Energy, a startup company, made geothermal heating and cooling accessible to homeowners by importing rigs from Sweden and iterating in the early years. The project involved drilling deep holes in homeowner's yards, making it operationally intensive and requiring less upfront capital. Although the early years were rocky due to challenges such as contracting with existing HVAC companies that focused on traditional HVAC systems, the company continued to persevere and raise $2 million. The business model involved creating a marketplace and contracting with HVAC installers to match homeowners that wanted geo with these contractors. Overall, Dandelion Energy offers sustainable heating and cooling solutions that benefit both homeowners and the environment.

Dandelion had to face various challenges including finding partners who were able to sell geothermal and providing support to contractors. Another challenge was the high upfront cost making it difficult for the company to make a profit initially. However, the demand for the product was high and Dandelion launched a financing option. Despite overwhelming demand, Dandelion had difficulty keeping up because they did not have the contractor network to support it. Eventually, they decided to insource the workforce, which allowed them to improve customer experience, economics of installs, and learn more quickly. This decision was a significant turning point in the history of the company, but it required them to raise more capital.

Dandelion has brought down the cost of geothermal systems that were once very expensive and niche, by standardizing the process and making it more efficient. They have increased their rigs and people working on it which has allowed them to amortize the overhead cost over many more systems hence decreasing the cost even further for homeowners. Apart from this, the company takes care of everything from installation, permitting, and inspection making it simple for the homeowner. Additionally, the policy landscape has been helpful with an increase in federal tax credit of 30% for every homeowner buying geothermal, incentives from utilities, and an increased talk about heat pumps. The actual work takes roughly two days and the wait times have reduced.

Geothermal heating systems or ground source heat pumps are cost-effective and more efficient than air source heat pumps in colder regions. Geothermal systems can dramatically reduce carbon emissions and eliminate the need for fossil fuel backups, making them a practical solution to electrify the entire fleet of heating equipment. The constant ground temperature helps run geothermal heat pumps at high efficiency, whereas air source heat pumps lose efficiency in extreme weather conditions. Ground source heat pumps also serve as a buffer for peak electricity demand, reducing the strain on the grid. Geothermal technology can work anywhere in the world, making it a viable and sustainable heating solution.

Geothermal heat pumps work effectively as there is a significant variation in temperature on the earth's surface, but underground (10 to 500 feet), it remains constant, making it an ideal source of heating or cooling. Dandelion, a geothermal startup, is raising funds to expand to more states and making new homes equipped with heat pumps. Utility companies are taking geothermal heat pumps seriously to avoid peak demand doubling and achieve climate goals. Dandelion is pushing for policy changes to make more states heat pump friendly while improving operational efficiency to bring down costs for more people. With heat pumps being a viable alternative to boilers and furnaces, more states must make the shift to a sustainable solution.