Geothermal heating and cooling can cool your energy costs

CLEVELAND - Tired of paying to heat your home? There's a growing trend called geothermal heating and cooling. It uses energy sources deep within the earth to heat or cool your home, and actually produces more energy than it takes to operate the unit.

The EPA estimates homeowners can save 30 to 70 percent on heating and 20 to 50 percent on cooling with a geothermal system.

They also last twice as long as conventional heating and cooling appliances and they're quieter.

The big drawback is the upfront price.

"One Angie's List member paid about $25,000 to have his system installed, but he finds he saves about $150 a month on his energy bills,” Angie Hicks of Angie’s List said.

There are energy credits that can help reduce the cost of these units. You can potentially recoup 30 percent of the cost through a federal tax credit .

You won’t see a huge benefit if your home is old and drafty.

“You want to have a fairly tight home, well insulated home so you get the full benefit of the efficiency of the equipment. If you live in a home with dated windows that leak it's probably not the best suited because you're not going to see those energy savings,” heating and cooling specialist Terry Biggs said.

You also need to realize there will be a lot of digging in your yard to install the system. Piping is buried underground to bring the heat from the earth into your home during the winter. In the summer, heat is pulled from your home back into the earth.

Ask your contractor about their experience level, and understand that not every heating and cooling company installs these units.