What most people say they love best about a geothermal heating and cooling system is that it has almost no moving parts. There’s just that much less that can go bad– that much less to keep up. And that in and of itself goes a long way toward decreasing the overall energy costs of Denver homeowners who’ve gone geothermal.
Still, the system does have some moving parts. Most of them are found in its most conspicuous component, too: the geothermal heat pump.
This is the engine that drives the system. Its job is to transfer heat. And it transfers heat either from the ground into your house or from your house into the ground, depending on the season30. That being the case, it’s a furnace and an air conditioner combined in one unobtrusive package.
What, then, does a heat pump use to transfer heat? Water! Well, that or a solution incorporating antifreeze. This liquid circulates through underground loops of pipe that are linked to the above-ground heat pump. During heating season the liquid draws heat from the ground, the heat pump draws the warm liquid up into refrigerant coils, and the heat is then is dispensed throughout a home by way of either a forced air or a hydronic system. During cooling season the process is reversed: the pump draws heat from your home and transfers it to the earth by way of those same buried loops. Oh, and as an extra bonus, more than a few geothermal systems also produce domestic hot water.
The crucial difference between a geothermal heat pump and a conventional furnace is that a heat pump doesn’t set fuel burning to generate heat. Rather, it takes heat that’s already present and simply moves it around. That naturally makes it a much more efficient heating and cooling system. Keep this in mind, too: underground temperatures most often hold at around 50º F through the year. Result? A geothermal heating and cooling system requires substantially less energy to cool your home than typical air conditioners.
So … is a geothermal system best for your Denver home? See this area’s geothermal gurus, the friendly people at Denver Geothermal Heating.