Geothermal heat pumps are one of the most efficient ways to heat and cool your home. Is it the right HVAC system for you?
Heat pumps are some of the most energy efficient heating systems available today. They’re also eco-friendly HVAC options because they don’t burn gas or oil to operation and they use far less electricity than other systems. The main downside is that they can be expensive to install, but with significant rebates and tax incentives available, combined with the cost savings they offer over the years, it’s an increasing popular option for homes to buy a heat pump.
A geothermal heat pump draws heat from the ground and releases it in your home. They’re vastly more efficient than conventional heating systems because a heat pump doesn''t burn fuel to create warmth; it simply movesexisting heat from one place to another. And because temperatures underground remain a relatively constant 50 degrees F year round, the system requires a lot less energy to cool your home than conventional air conditioning systems or air-source heat pumps, which use outside air as a transfer medium.
Air-source heat pumps are the most common, and they’re also the most affordable to install. Water-source heat pumps are also available.
It works a little like a refrigerator which removes heat from its interior and transfers it to your kitchen. A geothermal heat pump uses the same principle, but it transfers heat from the ground to your house (or vice versa). It does this through long loops of underground pipes filled with liquid (water or an antifreeze solution). The loops are hooked up to a geothermal heat pump in your home, which acts as a furnace and an air conditioner.
During the heating season, the liquid pulls heat from the ground and delivers it to the geothermal heating and cooling unit and then to refrigerant coils, where the heat is distributed through a forced-air or hydronic system. During the cooling season, the process runs in reverse. The pump removes heat from your house and transfers it to the earth. Many units can provide domestic hot water as well.
The three closed-loop systems shown below are the most common. There is also a less common open-loop system that circulates surface water or water from a well through the system and returns it to the ground through a discharge pipe.
The best system, loop length and design for a particular home depend on factors such as climate, soil conditions, available land, required heating and cooling load, and local installation costs at the site.
Layered coils or straight runs of polyethylene pipe are placed in six-foot-deep trenches. This is the ch
eapest underground option, but it requires a lot of open space. A 2,000-sq.-ft. house requires 400 ft. of two-foot-wide trenches.
A vertical system is used when space is limited. Four-inch-diameter holes are drilled about 15 ft. apart and 100 to 400 ft. deep. Two pipes are inserted and connect at the bottom.
This system draws heat from water rather than from the soil. If there’s a body of water nearby, this is the lowest cost option. A blanket of water covers coils anchored on racks about 10 ft. deep.
The biggest downside to installing a geothermal heat pump is the cost. The system and installation can range from $10,000 to $40,000 depending on your soil conditions, plot size, system configuration, site accessibility and the amount of digging and drilling required.
For a typical 2,000-sq.-ft. home, a geothermal retrofit can cost up to $30,000. The system may require ductwork modifications along with extensive excavation. In a new home, installation costs would be on the lower end. Even so, a geothermal system will cost about 40 percent more than a traditional HVAC system.
Recouping these costs through energy savings could take as little as four years or as long as 15 years depending on utility rates and the cost of installation. It takes some homework and professional estimates to figure out whether a geothermal system makes financial sense in your situation.
You can save some money on a geothermal heat pump system through tax credits. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included a tax credit that can be worth as much as 30 percent of the cost for residential installations (and 30 percent for commercial buildings as well) for Energy Star qualified systems. Those tax rebates are available through 2032.
There may be additional rebates available from your utility company as well as state and local governments, as well as incentives based on household income, so check with those entities if you’re considering installing a heat pump in a new home or retrofitting an existing house with one.
A few factors to consider that could make your home a fit for a geothermal HVAC system:
Heat pumps efficiently heat and cool your home by transferring heat, and understanding how they work can help you choose the best one for your home.
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Looking for an alternative to a new furnace or air conditioning system for your home, building, campus, or community? Geothermal heating and cooling technologies are a great option.
Heat pumps move heat from one place to another using electricity. Air conditioners and refrigerators are two common examples of heat pumps. Heat pumps can also be used to heat and cool buildings.
Temperatures at about 30 feet below the surface remain relatively constant year-round—between about 50°F (10°C) and 59°F (15°C). For most areas in the United States, this means soil temperatures are usually warmer than the air in winter and cooler than the air in summer.
Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) take advantage of these constant underground temperatures to efficiently exchange temperatures, heating homes in the winter and cooling homes in the summer.
About Geothermal hot water heating systems
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