ComplaintsforBuffalo Geothermal Heating

• Initial Complaint

  06/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Buffalo Geothermal installed 3 geothermal heatpumps and all related equipment at my address ***** ****** ** in October/ November 2021. Two units are bigger than the 3rd unit (which I believe is undersized). The total cost of this system is approximately 95k to 100k. Geothermal is advertized as saving you money on energy costs. They advertise that it saves you money and higher levels of comfort: "Homeowners enjoy lower utility bills (40% to 80% lower than with conventional systems), lower maintenance, and higher levels of comfort, year-round." from their website. Also on their website it states: "HOW DOES IT WORK? A few feet beneath the surface, the earth’s temperature remains fairly constant ranging from 45oF or so in northern latitudes to about 70oF in the deep south-year round. A geothermal system takes advantage of this constant temperature to provide extremely efficient heating and cooling. The only external energy needed for the geothermal system is the small amount of electricity needed to operate the ground loop pump, fan, and compressor." The geo system uses more energy than the conventional system that was in the house originally, a lot more! I have the records for the past 5 yrs of the NG consumption. It also had a hard time maintaining the 70/71 degree temperature especially on the smaller of the 3 units. I believe this unit is undersized and this unit also uses more electricity than the other larger units. Each unit has a separate electric heater in case the geothermal breaks down or is not able to bring the temp up quick enough I was told. I was also told that you can leave them turned off and then turn them on if needed. They said thats what most people do. So that is what I did. If I had left them on I would of hate to see what my electric bill would have been in addition to what it was already. My costs for electric to heat was 45% more than my cost for NG on the conventional system, how is this less expensive and a small amount of electricity?

  Business response

  06/07/2022

  Dear Mr. ******,
  We are just as frustrated as you are about rising Utility Cost. However, as I have stated in our prior correspondences comparing the dollar to dollar amount from previous years to this year gives you a skewed picture for the following reasons:
  

  This years energy prices, especially electricity, have gone up significantly due to low natural gas reserves and unrests in eastern Europe. Many NYSEG Customers, like you, have seen extraordinarily high cost per kWh with some bills being up to 3 times as high as in previous years (https://northsalempost.com/g/north-salem-ny/n/64612/why-your-nyseg-bill-so-high-and-what-you-can-do-about-it), but this doesn’t only apply to the cost of electricity but the cost for natural gas is up by 21% on average as well.
  

  The usage scenario of your recently acquired home has changed significantly. It was previously used as an AirBnB and it is unknown what setbacks the previous owners used for the times the rooms were not occupied. The Department of Energy estimates savings of about 1 percent for each degree of thermostat adjustment per 8 hours, meaning that if the previous owner reduced the setpoint from 70F to 60F during unoccupied periods, they saved 30% of heating cost during those periods.
  

  I would be happy to discuss this with you again and review your current electric bills as well, since I’m sure you have seen a significant reduction in used kWh for the Month of May in comparison to last year. Geothermal Systems are the most efficient and least expensive to operate HVAC System that exist to date and I can assure you that the yearly operating cost of your conventional system would have been significantly higher. In addition the installed remote monitoring system is demonstrating that your system was operating as designed over the winter.

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