Geothermal heating and cooling is cost effective because, although it takes electricity to run the system, it produces five times the amount of warmth that electric heat would produce, according to Dan Everett, a co-founder of New England Geothermal, which installed the system. It requires a hefty initial investment, though. The geothermal system will cost about $57,000 to install - some $30,000 more than he would have paid for conventional heating and cooling.