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Geothermal Heat Pump
From TipThePlanet
- The GeoExchange (geothermal) heating and cooling technology relies primarily on the Earth’s natural thermal energy, a renewable resource, to heat or cool a house or multi-family dwelling. The only additional energy geoexchange systems require is the small amount of electricity they employ to concentrate what Mother Nature provides and then to circulate high-quality heating and cooling throughout the home.
- The unique aspect of the GeoExchange system, and the key to its lengthy list of benefits, is the "ground loop". The ground loop provides the means of transferring heat to the earth in summer, and extracting heat from the earth in winter. Physically, the ground loop consists of several lengths of plastic pipe typically installed either in horizontal trenches or vertical holes that are subsequently covered with earth and landscaping of your choice. Water inside the ground loop piping is pumped through a heat exchanger in the GeoExchange unit. In the summer, it absorbs heat from the refrigerant hot zone and carries it to the ground through the ground loop piping. In winter, it absorbs heat from the earth through the ground loop, and then transfers that heat to the refrigerant cold zone.
In addition to operating cost benefits, GeoExchange provides:
- Heating without combustion of fossil fuels
- No carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide
- Increased safety
- Simpler design, maintenance, and operation
- Free hot water in the summer
- No unsightly/noisy air conditioning or air source heat pumps in the yard
See efficiency ratings for a GeoExchange system compared with Air conditioning and Gas, Oil and LP Gas (Propane) furnaces.
