What is Geothermal?

The earth absorbs almost 50% of all solar energy and remains a nearly constant temperature of 50°F to 70°F depending on geographic location at merely 5' beneath the earth's surface. Working with an underground loop system, a geothermal unit utilizes this constant temperature to exchange energy between your home and the earth as needed for heating and cooling.

In the winter months, a water solution circulating inside a sealed loop absorbs heat from the earth and carries it to the unit. The Geothermal unit then compresses it to a higher temperature and releases it as warm air to your indoor system for distribution throughout your home.

In the summer months, the system reverses and takes heat from your home and expels it to the cooler earth via the loop system. This heat exchange process is not only natural, but is a truly ingenious and highly efficient way to create a comfortable climate in your home.

		Horizontal Loops- Horizontal Loops are installed in areas where the soil conditions allow for economical excavation. Taking up more land area than any other loop type, they are used where space permits. Trenches are normally 5 feet deep. Normally, several hundred feet of trench is required.
		Vertical Loops- Vertical loops are used extensively where land area is limited. A pair of pipes with a special U-Bend assembly at the bottom are inserted into a bore hole that averages between 150 to 250 feet in depth per ton of equipment.

What Do Owners of Geothermal Systems Think?
Referenced by waterfurnace.com
Up to 95% of geothermal system owners would recommend installing one in a home. That's reflected in a number of online users' and owners' forums, including GeoExchange where you can experience the viewpoints
of geothermal system owners.

		Geothermal Waterfurnace Envision Envision Press Conference Product Launch Watch Video
		Geothermal Installation Video Here is one homeowner's account of a geothermal installation. geothermal system installation video

Significantly, the heat pump is located indoors like a furnace. The geothermal heat pump, with its underground piping loop, is able to tap a warmer, more stable heat source. The soil below frost level – 4 ft. to 6 ft. deep – stores the sun's energy at a more or less constant level, with temperatures keyed to latitude. Subsoil temperatures range from the low 40's in the North to the low 70's in the South and 55°F soil temperature is common in much of the Midwest and Central Plains. With a ground temperature of 55°F, the system needs to boost the heat a mere 15°-20° to reach a comfortable indoor temperature. The only influence outside air temperature has on the equation is in the home's ability to retain heat. Houses lose heat faster on colder days, so all systems work harder in cold weather. But while a ground-source heat pump may need to run more often on these days, it doesn't run less efficiently. The geothermal principle works about as well for air conditioning. Instead of an outdoor compressor laboring against the heat of the day having to use hot air as its heat-shedding medium, a ground-source heat pump operates indoors, using ground temperature as its starting point. The result is a 20% - 40% savings over conventional heat pumps and air conditioners. . On average, however, ground-source heat pumps deliver three to four times the energy they consume.

Desuperheater heats most hot water
A desuperheater is an auxiliary heat-recovery system that provides up to 60% of a home's domestic hot water. It's really just a second condenser located in the cabinet and connected to a standard electric water heater. It delivers more heat in summer, but it helps in winter, too. Without a desuperheater, you'd need to install more underground piping to dissipate the extra heat. As you might expect, most units come with desuperheaters.

Control Units
Both the thermostats and the control panels for these systems are electronic. The thermostat is able to sense temperature changes to .1 degrees F and activate the system when it senses only a 1° temperature drop. Because the human body can sense only a 2°-3° difference in temperature, the system is always one step ahead in comfort. The microprocessor in the cabinet does double duty. It sequences the startup so that less stress is put on equipment, and it also has a built-in fault sensor that can identify the cause of a malfunction. The system faults appear on the thermostat so minor problems can be corrected immediately and more serious problems are diagnosed before the service technician arrives.

GEOTHERMAL FLASH AMINATION
Reference: www.justgeothermal.com

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