A geothermal heating and cooling system allows you to harness the constant temperature of the upper crust of the Earth’s surface to heat and cool your home. This renewable heat energy is environmentally friendly, while being able to keep your home’s temperature comfortable year-round. This system can be installed on new or existing homes.
- Eliminate dependency on oil or natural gas for your home.
- If you were previously heating your home with electric baseboard heat, you could save about 75% on electricity usage.
- With no CO2 emissions directly associated with your home’s geothermal heat pump, you reduce your household’s greenhouse gas emissions.
- Consistent cost savings.
Geothermal heating and cooling systems require three components:
An Energy Supply Source
Commonly known as the ground loop, this energy supply source consists of piping buried in the ground, either horizontally or vertically (depending on site characteristics). As fluid circulates through the pipes in the loop, it absorbs the ground’s heat and carries it to the heat pump.
A Geothermal Heat Pump
The heat pump extracts the heat energy absorbed by the ground loop’s fluid. Using its compressor, it concentrates it into usable heat energy. The concentrated heat energy from your heat pump can then be distributed to your home through an energy distribution system.
An Energy Distribution System
Your home’s geothermal energy can be distributed as warm air or warm water. Ductwork (forced air) allows both heating and cooling, while radiant in-floor heat cannot provide cooling. You can choose one, or integrate an all-in-one system. You can also integrate with your hot water heater.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get domestic hot water out of my geothermal heat pump?
Yes, you can get a good percentage of you hot water with the desuperheater which is an additional heat exchanger that will heat your domestic hot water whenever your unit is running. This device does not cost anything to operate as your compressor is already running to heat or cool your building. As a result this is a very efficient way to use geothermal heat to preheat your domestic hot water and will result in about 55% savings year round.
How do I select a ground loop type?
This depends heavily on your property’s characteristics such as what material lies below the surface, your property’s size, etc. For example, vertical loops take less surface space and are optimal when space is limited.
We evaluate the best installation method for each home based on a series of factors.
What are cost comparisons to other heating methods?
If you were just installing the heat pump and the energy distribution system, a geothermal heat pump installation would cost about the same as conventional equipment. The cost of installing the energy supply source (ground loop) is what gets more expensive.