Why use ground source heat pumps? Many people are using geothermal heat pumps these days to heat and cool their home. Maybe, there are still a lot of you that do not know what these machines actually do. What I hope to do is educate you on the benefits of these machines.

Geothermal heat pumps use ground water or the earth as its source of heat in the winter. Heat is taken from the earth through a liquid; this liquid is either ground water or antifreeze like solution. This is the process for the winter.

In the summer, the process is reversed. Heat is removed from your home and transferred to the earth through the antifreeze solution or ground water. A different type of heat pump uses refrigerant instead of an antifreeze solution. air source heat pump, which transfers heat between your house and the outside air, no ground source needed. (For moderate climates)

In other words it is essentially the same process as in your refrigerator: heat is extracted with a compressor and refrigerant loop from the inside of your refrigerator and rejected into your house.

In addition to space heating and cooling, geothermal heat pumps can provide hot water with virtually no additional energy, save you money. Newer heat pumps are now equipped with desuperheaters “or preheater” that can transfer excess heat from the compressor to the domestic water heater.

Your geothermal heat pump can effectively and quickly heat water for your bathtub, shower and sinks. Providing the unit is in use, It’s better to store the water in an insulated tank and used in conjunction with a tankless water heater. This way in the spring and fall when the geothermal heat pump is not in use the tankless water heater can bump up the temperature for tub and showers etc.

Geothermal Heat Pumps utilize the relatively constant temperature of the ground or water several feet below the surface as a source of heating and cooling and are appropriate for both retro fit or new homes.

There are three types of heat transfer systems horizontal closed loop, a vertical closed loop and open loop drain system. “Or pump and dump.” the first two use a antifreeze solutions for heat transfer and the third uses well water for heat transfer with a trench or drain field to drain away the water. Vertical loops are used in areas with little room for a large transfer system like the horizontal loop system. The pump and dump is by fare the cheapest to install if you have access to well water.

Professionals should install ground source heat systems. It is not recommended for DIY. These system needs to be sized correctly for your home. Especially the transfer piping laid out in the ground, or down to the ground water table, these must be designed and installed correctly to ensure that your geothermal heat pump system works as intended.

Geothermal systems can save you up to 60% on heating costs over propane or fuel oil furnaces, up to 25% on your cooling costs and as much as 50% of your hot water costs. As for my savings, my annual electric bill is less than one thousand dollars a year or and average monthly bill of $79. The only appliances I have that are not electric are the tanklless water heater and the range. Before I installed the heat pump the electric bill averaged about $30. That is a difference of $49 or $588 annually, to heat and cool my home. At this rate the system will have paid for itself in about seven years! And I live In Michigan!

So here’s the question, is this article helpful or do you have anything to add, if so kindly add your comments below. Thanks for reading!