One of the most unexpected things about a geothermal heating and cooling system is that it has so little in the way of moving parts. There’s just that much less that can go wrong– that much less to maintain. And that alone makes a big difference in decreasing the overall energy costs of Pine County homeowners who’ve gone geothermal.
That said, the system does have some moving parts. the majority of them are found in its most essential component, too: the geothermal heat pump.
This is the engine that drives the system. Its job is to transfer heat. And it transfers heat either from the ground into your house or from your house into the ground, depending on seasonal temperatures. That being the case, it’s a furnace and an air conditioner rolled into one discreet package.
Water – or an antifreeze solution – is the medium the heat pump uses to transfer heat. This liquid courses through pipe loops installed underground and connected to the heat pump, which is kept above ground. During heating season the liquid draws heat from the ground, the heat pump draws the warm liquid up into refrigerant coils, and from there the heat is dispensed throughout a home by either a forced air or a hydronic system. During cooling season it runs the other way ’round: the pump draws heat from your home and transfers it underground through those same buried loops. Oh, and somewhere along the way, many geothermal systems also supply domestic hot water.
The basic differentiator between a geothermal heat pump and a ordinary furnace is that a heat pump doesn’t set fuel burning to generate heat. Rather, it takes heat that’s already there and simply moves it around. That naturally makes it a much more efficient heating and cooling system. Recognize this, too: underground temperatures most often stay at around 50º F all year long. The payoff? A geothermal heating and cooling system requires substantially less energy to cool your home than typical air conditioners.
So … is a geothermal system right for your Pine County home? Talk with this area’s geothermal pros, the cordial folks at Willow River Geothermal .