Geothermal? The upfront cost is ridiculously high.

Yes, but the 15k rebate, 25k interest free loan, and tax incentives soften that greatly for me. Plus, getting central air and not paying a $300+ monthly gas bill….

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Just note in the savings... depending on where you live, where I live I believe the gas rate is $2.17 a therm, electricity with a good contract from a third party is 28¢, if you are getting a heat pump with a 4 COP, you will save only about 15% of your natural gas costs. If you have National Grid's rack rate, you are paying substantially more to run geothermal than gas, with the breakeven at around 32¢. Not saying you shouldn't get one or anything, but don't factor in savings on Natural Gas into the equation, as electricity has the potential to be more costly than your current gas.

Sound like you might have installed mini splits which are typically AIR SOURCE heat pumps? The OP is asking about GROUND SOURCE heat which requires drilling and it typically done on new construction, not as an upgrade to existing houses.

Depending on depth needed (which I have no idea what it is) I would imagine it is not too much different than having a private well drilled which is still very common in Mass.

My bad. Sorry.

Keep in mind that a heat pump can provide both heat in winter and AC in summer.

Compare your total cost of installation and operation to an Air Source heat pump. The compressor of an air source heat pump makes significant noise outside (similar to the compressor of a whole house air conditioner). The compressor of a ground source heat pump makes some noise inside, the pumps also make a bit of noise, and there can be some condensation on the pumps in the summer.

You will need to have a well insulated and tight house. If the house is tight, you will also want heat recovering ventilation.

My guess is that Air Source makes sense for typical single family houses and that Ground Source makes sense for large commercial and government buildings.

I'm a random guy on the internet.

One extra thing I noted in my research. My gas furnace is fairly efficient, but it's using plenty of power too. Using June as a base for least amount of energy used, I estimate it cost me about $148 last February (573 kWh) just to power the furnace not including the gas. Ironically, our window ACs jump to similar number in the summer. It's very hard to lock down a super accurate number, but I'm confident it's in that ball park.

Electric for me is about $0.25 per kWh (even being partly sourced by National Grid)

Gas is $2.15 per therm when you stack delivery and usage.

We'll see how it goes. Thanks for the math and insight.

If you have a condensing gas furnace, I would not replace it until it reaches the end of it's life. They're fairly efficient. MassSave is doing a good job but with the increasing price of energy I wouldn't want to be locked in until things settle down. Oil I would switch in a heartbeat. I have heard at a convention that restrictions will increase for commercial usage at some point.