What are geothermal heat pumps?
Geothermal, or ground source, heating and cooling is a comfortable, cost effective, and environmentally friendly technology that takes advantage of the Earth’s capacity to store energy in the form of heat. Heat pump systems use no fuels, but rather move heat from the earth into a building, or from a building back the earth. A small amount of electricity is used to operate the pumps, fans, controls, and a small compressor, which along with the heat exchangers are the major components of the geothermal heat. The geothermal heat pump accomplishes it heating and cooling tasks, known as”GeoExchange”, by obtaining heat through a connection to the earth known as a “loop”. The loop consists of a piping system circulating a water/antifreeze mixture from the earth to the geothermal heat pump and back. Because of the compressor in the heat pump, the ground temperature need to not be especially warm and these systems will perform virtually everywhere in the world.
