Lower Energy Use At Home: High Energy Prices Prompt New Look At Geoexchange Systems

(HIT) - With electricity and natural gas prices at record highs, you may want to take a fresh look at a heating and cooling technology that can lower energy use at home by 25 to 50 percent. Geoexchange heating and cooling—also known as geothermal or ground source heating and cooling—taps the renewable, safe and virtually endless energy supply that lies just below the earth’s surface to lower energy use.

Sound like science fiction? On the contrary, geoexchange is well-established technology and already in use in hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the country. The way it works is simple: In winter, warmth is drawn from the earth through a series of underground pipes—called a ground loop. A water solution circulating through the ground loop carries the earth’s natural heat to a geothermal heat pump inside the home.

The geothermal heat pump concentrates the earth’s warmth and circulates it through your home, using an ordinary blower and ductwork.

In the summer, the process is reversed. The heat pump extracts heat from the air inside the home and transfers it to the biggest "heat sink" of all—Mother Earth. An added summertime bonus: Geoexchange heating and cooling systems use some of the heat extracted from the house to heat your water, lowering energy use even further and saving you as much as 30 percent on your annual hot water bill.

How Geoexchange Lowers Energy Use

Ordinary heat pumps tend to lose efficiency when the outside air is very cold or very hot. Geoexchange heating and cooling systems are more efficient because the earth’s temperature below the surface is more stable. In the summer, temperatures are generally cooler underground than at the surface. In the winter, the ground is usually warmer than the surrounding air. Either way, a geothermal heat pump doesn’t have to work as hard as a conventional unit.

The result: Substantially lower energy use at home and savings on your monthly utility bills. In fact, a 1,500-square-foot home can be heated and cooled for a year-round average of about $1 a day. Both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy (DOE) have recognized geoexchange heating and cooling technology as the most efficient and environmentally friendly home heating and cooling system available.

Geoexchange isn’t a company or brand; it’s a technology that you can get from a variety of local contractors. To learn more about geoexchange heating cooling systems and how they can lower energy use at home, or to find a contractor in your area, start with the Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium, a nonprofit organization. You can reach them at 1-888-333-4472 or on the Web at http://www.geoexchange.org.

Courtesy: Home Improvement News and Information Center