Most of us are looking for as many ways to save on household expenses as possible. More and more homeowners are choosing to install a geothermal heat pump to save on heating and cooling bills. Heat pumps use the stable temperature of the ground a few feet below the surface to release the heat from the home in summer and to heat the home in winter. This is why they are sometimes called ground source heat pumps.
The three main parts of a geothermal heat pump are the heat exchanger or ground loop, the air ducts and the heat pump. The heat exchange loop system uses water or a mixture of water and antifreeze circulating through the loops to trans
fer the heat from your home in summer and “reject” it into the ground. During the winter, the process is reversed. The solution removes heat from the ground and brings it into the house to be converted into heated air by the heat pump equipment.
As happens with a standard air-source heat pump, the geothermal heat pump’s indoor component uses a refrigerant-filled coil to release the transferred ground heat into the home for winter heating, or to extract heat from the indoor air and send it outside via the water solution for summer cooling.
The third component is the air duct system that circulates the heated or cooled air in your home so your family can stay comfortable. This works just like any forced-air system to circulate the conditioned air throughout your house.
Because geothermal heat pumps use the moderate heat underground, they are much more energy efficient than air-source heat pumps or central A/Cs. Studies have shown that four units of heat can be produced by just one unit of electricity used to power the system.
To get more help choosing a geothermal heat pump or for answers to any of your heating or cooling questions please contact us at Geisel Heating, Air Conditioning and Plumbing. We have been serving the greater Cleveland area for more than 79 years.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about geothermal heat pumps and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
For those Do it Yourselfers who would rather take control of your own indoor comfort, you can shop our online store for replacement parts, products and accessories!
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