![]() In a technology defined by numbers, here's a fact that everyone will understand: With a geothermal system–they're also called geo-exchange systems–a reasonably tight 2000-sq.-ft. home can be heated and cooled for about $1 a day. Commensurate savings are common for larger homes. You'll pay several thousand more up front, but in many cases, the payback can come in as little as two or three years. And once the system is paid off, the annual return on investment can approach 20 percent. ![]() Add impressive durability and less-intrusive trenching methods and the scales begin to tip, at least in the new-home market. The heart of a typical geothermal system is a ground-source heat pump that cycles water through an underground piping loop. The water piped through this loop uses soil temperature to warm or cool the heat pump's refrigerant. Significantly, the heat pump is located indoors, like a furnace, which provides advantages we'll get to shortly. While this equipment may sound exotic, its operation is fairly easy to understand when compared to that of conventional air-to-air heat pumps. A conventional heat pump is really just a central air conditioner that can reverse the flow of its refrigerant. ![]() ![]() The compressor is located outside the home, and, in the heating mode, it's able to extract some of the heat present in cold, outdoor air and deliver it indoors to a condensing coil. ![]() Unlike conventional furnaces, heat pumps don't have to create heat, they just harvest existing heat–and therein lie the savings.īelow about 10 degrees Fahrenheit, however, too little heat is present in the air and a backup heat source is needed to make up the difference, or, in many cases, take over entirely. The colder it gets, the less heat is available and the less efficient the system becomes.Įven within a heat pump's effective operating range, efficiency is directly tied to ambient temperature. In contrast, a ground-source heat pump, with its underground piping loop, is able to tap a warmer, more stable heat source. Deep–stores the sun's energy at a more or less constant level, with temperatures keyed to latitude. ![]()
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