Anyone know if radiant floors are considered a qualified geothermal expense? I've seen conflicting information all from non-official sources, and couldn't dig up any sort of authoritative ruling by IRS. Has anyone here successfully claimed it? IRS specifically exclude ductwork and back-up heat, but include piping. So is a radiant floor covered under piping and being considered essential to the operation of the equipment, or excluded as an add-on or distribution system? Would it make any difference if I went with something like HydroLogic's modular system where the electric and the piping are all sort of rolled into one package?
Geothermal is a high efficiency system because the moderate source temp improves the cop. A high out distribution system and a tight well insulated system do exactly the same thing by lowering the required sink (in heating season) temp. To the extent that your distribution system is extensive, it is improving cop by the exact same driver - lowering delta T. So I say - clame it if you're distribution system is big enough to heat (or cool) with a moderate water temp.
I'm struggling with exactly the same thing. On the one hand, the tubing in a radiant floor could be used by some alternative heating source (like a gas boiler), so it's not specifically tied to the geo. But on the other hand, I can't think of any other way that you could use a w2w geo other than radiant floors, so it is kind of tied to the geo. It would be nice to know if anyone who tried claiming the radiant tubing was ever audited and what the ruling was. My accountant says that the same rules from Notice 2013-70 (which is likely what these non-official sources are basing their opinions on) would still likely be applied to the current credit, so we should have a good 10 years of case history.
I talked with the company that installed my geo and they claim that all their customers have included the entire cost of the system and never had any problems. But they didn't offer anything to back up their assertion. So I'm guessing this might be less a case of hydronic piping actually being permitted in the IRS's eyes, and more of a case that no one got caught because of the low audit rate.
claim it and if you get questioned, show how the distibution system is integral to the water to water heat pump's use. why would a pipe in the ground exchanging heat be any different than a pipe in your house distributing heat. You can't use the heat pump without it so why wouldn't it be part of it? You certainly rest on a far better foundation than this claim (mostly pages 6 to 7): https://www.geoexchange.org/forum/threads/new-york-changes.4745/ where someone was trying to get a credit for installing a geo system under a NY state solar tax credit under the auspices that the sun heats the ground and geo extracts heat from the ground so geo is a really a solar system and should get the credit
It's tempting, but of the two contrasting arguments: 1) The tubing in a hydronic system could be used by some alternative heating source (like a gas boiler). 2) There really isn't any other way than hydronic tubing to use a w2w geo. my accountant says it's #1 that is the important factor in the IRS's thinking. And the IRS can really wack you when you make mistakes, so absent any real evidence that this is accepted by the IRS, probably better to play it safe.
