Geothermal Estimator
The Geothermal Estimator tells you what the ground under an address is likely to be worth thermally, using the well logs already in DrillerDB. You enter a location, it reads the geology from nearby logs, and it gives you ground properties, aquifer flow, a suggested bore depth, and a ground-loop design you can hand to a customer.
It covers both closed-loop and open-loop work - the ground properties size a borefield, and the aquifer flow figure is what you need for an open-loop system. The values are meant to feed loop-field sizing software directly.
You will find it in the left menu under DATA, as Geothermal.
It is an add-on, and it is not self-serve. If your company does not have it, the Geothermal pages show a locked screen whose Contact us to enable button opens an email to support@drillerdb.com. There is no checkout to click through - someone sets it up with you.
What this is for
Use it to answer the question you get before anyone has paid for anything: is this site worth pursuing for a ground-source heat pump, and roughly what will the loop field look like?
That is a screening job. You are deciding whether to bid, how to price, and how much loop to plan for.
What this is not
This is not a replacement for an on-site thermal-response test. A TRT measures the actual ground at the actual site. The Estimator infers ground properties from logs drilled nearby, which is a different and less certain thing.
Use the Estimator to decide whether a site is worth testing and to size a preliminary design. Use a TRT when the job is large enough, or the design tight enough, that being wrong is expensive. On jobs where the numbers matter, the Estimator tells you where to spend the TRT budget, not whether to skip it.
The results carry an On-site TRT recommended flag when the estimate is weak enough that you should test before committing. Take it seriously. It appears when nearby data is thin or inconsistent, and also when nearby wells suggest moving groundwater - which can flag an otherwise tidy-looking estimate, because flowing water carries heat away in a way the model does not capture.
What you need
- The Geothermal Estimator add-on on your account ($149/month, on any plan)
- A location - an address or a latitude and longitude
- Nothing else. It reads geology from existing well logs; you do not have to have drilled the site yourself
The three sections
Geothermal has three tabs across the top:
| Tab | What it does |
|---|---|
| Estimator | Run an assessment for a location. Ground properties, per-layer detail, suggested depth. |
| Ground-loop designs | Turn an assessment into a borefield: how many boreholes, how deep, laid out how. |
| TC tests | Log your own thermal-conductivity test results so future estimates near those sites anchor to measured values. |
Most people work left to right: run an assessment, build a design from it, and over time feed real test results back in through TC tests.
Where to start
- Running an Assessment - your first estimate, start here
- Reading Your Results - what the numbers mean and how much to trust them
- Ground-Loop Designs - sizing a borefield from an assessment
- Thermal-Conductivity Tests - feeding your own test data back in
Related Topics
- Well Map - the well data the estimates are built from
- DepthMap - explore well logs and geology across the country
- Billing Settings - your plan and payment details (the geothermal add-on itself is enabled by us, not from this page)