Episode 103 | Home Heating | Dandelion Energy





I have been a huge supporter of geothermal energy and the low-cost, renewable, baseload energy potential it could provide (see Episodes 83 and 62).

While previous episodes focused more on the utility-scale geothermal potential, there is massive potential for residential use. Since the late 1970s, geothermal home heating systems have been installed in backyards around the country. However, they can be expensive and disruptive to install.

New York-based Dandelion Energy was founded with the goal of customizing these tools for geothermal home use. The company started as part of the Google X (now X Development) "Moonshot Factory," and was spun off in 2017.

Michael Sachse, Dandelion's CEO, says the company started with the simple premise, "Why is this so expensive? Can we find a way to make it cheaper?"

He says three factors were key to the sector:

  1. Vertical drilling until now has been expensive and messy
  2. Finding and attracting enough customers over the Internet
  3. Bring data to this, can see how heat pump is performing in the homes, as well as soil conductivity

One of the most important developments was a custom-built tracked rig that can maneuver in suburban backyards. The typical rig needs about 43'; Dandelion's needs about 11'. This allows for vertical piping that does not require large areas to be dug up to place coiled tubing.

Dandelion also has a proprietary air conditioning unit as well. On average, Michael says customers can expect heating costs to decline 80% and A/C about 20%. The biggest savings come from customers who rely on heating oil or propane for heating. Michael adds that the typical payback for customers like these is 5-7 years.

I was curious how large these systems could be, and Michael says there is no limit. He says large campuses and commercial facilities are a possibility, though right now they are focusing on homes. Michael adds Dandelion has had conversations with community developers about getting in early, i.e. while new homes are being constructed rather than going in after-the-fact.

"With geothermal, our view is every customer is going to come into the market eventually because their furnace isn’t going to last forever," he says. "We think we have a chance to be part of that."

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