huango You have to be careful when applying generalities like "$30K" to your specific site. I have a large GT system - 12 tons worth of HVAC. The total delta cost between that system and one with High Efficiency heat pumps was $15K NOT including the digging of the loop field BUT inclduing everything else. The extra costs for GT heat pumps over regular heat pumps is not a large delta. You would not need 12 tons of GT for a 2200 sq ft home - maybe 5 tons at most. My 6 ton unit was spec'd to handle about 4400 sq feet (2200 on the main level and 2200 in the basement that is mostly below grade). The loop field is a big variable but there are many options. For a closed loop system you can use a pond (if you have one), a horizontal field (a pit), or wells. For an open loop system you can use a well BUT you need a place to dump the water that is pumped out (a pond or stream). This is where the costs for GT are very hard to estimate on a forum like this - you need to get several quotes for your site. Here is some data that might help you that I got this from research my install. Use this as rough approximations, I live in the mid-Atlantic region in the moutains. For every ton of GT you need a 100 ft well and wells cost about 10 dollars per foot to drill. So if you go that route - and assuming you needed 5 tons of GT - you would need 5 x 100 ft wells and that would cost roughly $5000. You have to weigh that cost vs. the cost of digging a pit. For a pit you need a hole that is 120 feet long x 6 feet deep. The width of the pit is driven by how many tons of HVAC you have. With 5 tons you would need 5 loops - and each loop requires 4 feet of space so that would be a 120' x 20' x 6' pit. See if you have that kind of space on your lot and rememeber they will also need space around that to pile the dirt (and it's a lot of dirt - way more than you could imagine!). If your site is right - it might be cheaper to go with a horizontal loop field. I too have been thinking about using solar to run my loop pump. My pump draws 7.5 amps at 240 volts which is 1800 watts and that runs 24x7. I would need a pretty big solar system to drive that and the cost right now is too high. However, I am going to keep watching and someday will hopefully be able to add that in. Perhaps with a smaller system you could make the the numbers work. I estimate that a solar system would save me about $75 per month off my electric bill - so I would need the solar system to cost around $10,000 to break even in 10 years. A 2 kilowatt solar system runs in the 20K to 30K range. You mentioned 7K for solar - that seems low but maybe prices have come down. Another idea I had is to add in a contoller for the system so that the loop pump only comes on when the inside themostats call for heat or AC. This would allow me to turn off the loop pump when it isn't needed instead of having it run 24x7. The contoller has to be smart enough to anticipate trends in temps so it doesn't make the pump start & stop too often which would be a waste of energy too (it takes a lot of power to get the loop water moving). This might be a neat project to tackle once I get through all the other things I have on my ever grwoing list. Before comitting to GT - you need to make sure that your house is well insulated and sealed from air infiltration. If you have a leaky house, you will not see the savings and the Gt system will struggle to keep you warm in the winter. GT systems are great but they cannot generate the BTU output as quickly as a gas or oil system can. If a GT system is overwhelmed, the emergency heat will come on (the heat packs) which is essentially a giant toaster and will run your electric bills through the roof. I also recommend having some wood burning fireplace inserts or stoves to augment the Gt syetm when it is really cold AND most importantnly provide a backup if the power goes out. best of luck.

Thanks everyone for your input! I like the idea of adding in a color or two into each of the rooms to give them some interest. Because I consider decorating my house kind of a hobby of mine, I want that to be reflected in the actual decor. I don't want people to walk in and say of course her rooms are put together, she only used one color. Does that make any sense? Perhaps I care too much what other people MIGHT think when they come into my home. My husband and my little girl feel at home, thats what matters! But just so you get a better idea of what I am talking about, I will post some pictures after I am feeling better. I have the flu right now and the house doesn't look quite photo-ready!!

We sold an 11 year old home this last summer. We replaced the MB faucets and showerhead and I painted the ugly gold builder's lights with stone fleck paint. I also tore down the wall paper and painted the room. It looked like a new room. My house was a step beyond a starter home. It depends upon what type of neighborhood you're living in as to what the minimum you should do is. I've looked at on-line pictures of other houses in the neighborhood. They still had the builder grade faucets and outdated wallpaper. My house did look fresh compared to them. I left the interior doorknobs. If I had replaced one, then I would have felt the need to replace them all. My closet doors had the same knobs as the room doors. I think I may have switched a closet knob or two around to keep the nicer looking knobs in strategic places. My exterior door knobs were showing significant wear so I did replace them.

If this is just drywall, that's one thing. Baseboard, crown, etc, each piece of trim adds more lines to be cut in, can slow things down, and may cause DIY frustration. Painting can be deceptive. It looks simple. After all, it's just painting. But well done paint jobs will look terrific for years to come. Not-so-good paint jobs may look good for the short term, but over time they can look natty. Really good painters are really, really good. No exaggeration. A bad painter can trash the aesthetic of a house. No exaggeration there either. Some DIYers can do excellent work. Others fall in to the not-so-good category. If you pursue this yourself and you have a lot of flat surfaces to cover, consider investing in an 18" roller set-up. A nice all metal Wooster 18" frame, an 18" tray, a quality extension pole, and several rollers. Add a couple of canvas drop cloths and a couple of quality brushes (trim, cutting in, etc) and you'll have most of the equipment needed. A spinner helps for cleanup. For $200, maybe $250, you can have a decent setup. Start in the least public room to get experience. If you're going to make mistakes, why not make them there? After doing the other rooms, you can go back and correct any mistakes. Plan your way around the room, taking trim, windows and doors into account. Cut in as needed. Load the roller, place the paint, roll it out. Don't overwork it which can lead to orange peel. Don't speed roll, it can lead to splatters. Keep a wet edge and develop a rhythm. I highly recommend a paint brush and roller spinner for cleanup. Watch the DIY shows on TV and do the exact opposite of what they do.