A master-planned community near Austin, Texas is home to the largest geothermal grid ever created for residential use, CNBC reports. The 2,000-acre Whisper Valley community is built atop a massive geothermal grid that will heat and cool more than 7,500 homes, which are still in the beginning stages of construction.
Geothermal heating and cooling systems access constant temperatures deep beneath the earth’s surface and use water to circulate those temperatures up above. The system is much more energy efficient than traditional HVAC units, and thanks to the newly passed Inflation Reduction Act, the geothermal grid will provide triple the current 10% tax credits to homeowners for at least the next ten years.
While the system is powered by electricity, it uses far less than a traditional HVAC system, and with the solar package, total energy consumption in the homes is reduced by about 80% according to EcoSmart. The homes, which have a median price of $460,000, do cost about $10,000 more than comparable homes, and the battery backups are an additional cost, but buyers should quickly recoup the cash.
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