The Fundamental Properties and Purposes of a Geothermal Heat Pump

What pretty much all people say they love most of all about a geothermal heating and cooling system is that it has so few moving parts. There’s just that much less that can get screwed up– that much less needing maintenance. And that alone plays a major role in reducing the overall energy costs of The Hudson Valley homeowners who’ve gone geothermal.

 

Of course, there are some moving parts in the system. Most of them are found in its most conspicuous component, too: the geothermal heat pump.

This is the engine that drives the system. Its task 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. In Consequence, it’s a furnace and an air conditioner combined in one discreet package.

What, then, does a heat pump use to transfer heat? Water! Well, that or a solution containing antifreeze. This liquid flows through loops of underground pipes to which the heat pump is secured 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 that point the heat is circulated 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 to the earth by way of those same buried loops. Oh, and somewhere in all this, more than a few geothermal systems also produce domestic hot water.

The fundamental difference between a geothermal heat pump and a more familiar furnace is that a heat pump doesn’t set fuel burning to generate heat. No, indeed, it takes heat that already exists and simply moves it around. That naturally makes it a much more efficient heating and cooling system. Understand this, too: underground temperatures usually stay at around 50º F through the year. Result? A geothermal heating and cooling system requires considerably less energy to cool your home than conventional air conditioners.

So … is a geothermal system the answer for your The Hudson Valley home? Look to this area’s geothermal gurus, the helpful folks at Verdae Geothermal.