(From The Conservation Way newsletter published by waterfurnace.com)
A “Smarter” Way to Heat and Cool
Tired of skyrocketing fossil fuel prices? The answer may be right under your toes.
What if there was an abundant source of free, renewable energy that could be used to heat a house in winter, cool it in summer and provide hot water at the tap all year round? Well, a growing number of homeowners say there is: the sun. While most people already have a basic understanding of solar panels, these homeowners are actually talking about geothermal.
Geothermal heating and cooling is extremely energy-efficient and generally provides the lowest utility bills of any residential system. It taps into the renewable solar energy from the sun’s rays that’s stored in the ground and provides savings from 40%-70% on utility bills.
“The secret to a geothermal heat pump’s amazing efficiency is that, although it operates similarly to a standard heat pump, it exchanges heat with the ground instead of the outdoor air,” says Tom Huntington, President and CEO of WaterFurnace, the leading manufacturer of geothermal products.
“The temperature of the outdoor air can vary greatly from day to night and more than 100°F from the coldest winter night to the hottest summer day. In contrast, the temperature just a few feet below the earth’s surface stays an average 55°-70°F year-round.”
In the winter, a geothermal heat pump can produce over five dollars worth of heat for each dollar spent on electricity. Meanwhile, the most efficient traditional furnace returns less than 98¢ of heat for each dollar spent on expensive, polluting fossil fuel. And unlike ordinary heat pumps that struggle to pull heat from the air as the outdoor temperature drops, the efficiency and heat output from a geothermal heat pump remains constant.
During the summer, a regular heat pump or central air conditioner loses efficiency and cooling output when the outdoor temperature rises. Unfortunately, this is when your house requires the greatest cooling capacity. The 7 Series from WaterFurnace is one of the highest rated units ever certified by AHRI (the association responsible for industry ratings) at 41 EER (energy efficiency ratio). This is typically more than twice as efficient as a standard heat pump or central air conditioner.
To capture the heat energy from the ground in winter or disperse heat during summer, a long pipe is usually buried in the ground or placed at the bottom of a pond. An environmentally friendly antifreeze/water solution, running through the pipe, acts as the heat transfer medium. If there’s an adequate supply of clean water, it can be used to transfer heat. Most WaterFurnace units also use earth-friendly R-410A refrigerant instead of Freon.
Geothermal systems are extremely quiet because there’s no outdoor equipment to bother neighbors or your family at night. This also reduces wear and tear from constant exposure to outdoor weather and playing children.
The Environmental Protection Agency has called geothermal heat pumps—also known as ground-source heat pumps or geoexchange—the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean and cost-effective heating and air conditioning systems available.
More information about geothermal is available at the GeoExchange (geoexchange.org) website or at the WaterFurnace homepage (waterfurnace.com). Geothermal heating & cooling has been installed by over 1,000,000 homeowners.
