Outdoor temperatures fluctuate with the changing seasons but underground temperatures don’t. Four to six feet below the earth’s surface, temperatures remain relatively constant year-round. A geothermal system capitalizes on these constant temperatures to provide “free” energy. In winter, a series of fluid-filled underground pipes called a “loop” absorbs stored heat and carries it indoors. The indoor unit compresses the heat to a higher temperature and distributes it throughout the building. In summer, the system reverses, pulling heat from the building, carrying it through the earth loop and depositing it in the cooler earth..

A geothermal system is over five times more efficient in heating and more than twice as efficient in cooling as the most efficient ordinary system. Because geothermal systems move existing heat rather than creating it through combustion, they provide four to five units of energy for every one unit used to power the system.

Unlike ordinary systems, geothermal systems don’t burn fossil fuel to generate heat; they simply transfer heat to and from the earth to provide a more efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly method of heating and cooling. Typically, only a small amount of electricity is used to operate the unit’s fan, compressor and pump.

All heating and cooling systems have a rated efficiency from a U.S. governmental agency. Fossil fuel furnaces use AFUE. Air conditioners use SEER while heat pumps use HSPF and SEER.

Geothermal heat pumps rate heating efficiencies according to their coefficient of performance or COP. It’s a scientific way of determining how much energy the system produces versus how much it uses. Most geothermal heat pump systems have COPs of 3-4.5. The WaterFurnace 7 Series 700A11 holds some of the highest recorded certified performances of 6.0 COP in an open loop and 5.3 in a closed loop. That means for every dollar of energy used to power the system, $6 or $5.30 of energy are supplied as heat. Where a fossil fuel furnace may be 78-98% efficient, a geothermal heat pump is over 500% efficient.

For cooling, geothermal units are rated by Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER). EER is a measure of efficiency in the cooling mode when measured at a constant temperature(95°F). The higher the EER, the more efficient the unit. The WaterFurnace 7 Series holds the highest recorded certified performance of 41EER for closed loop and 53.2 for open loop.

No. Geothermal systems are practically maintenance free. The buried loop will last for generations. The unit’s fan, compressor and pump is housed indoors, protected from the weather and contamination. Usually, periodic checks and filter changes are the only required maintenance.

While WaterFurnace does offer an outdoor geothermal unit for jobs where space is limited, its rugged housing is sealed so that no components are exposed to the elements.

Heat pumps don’t create heat. They take existing heat and move it. Anyone with a refrigerator has witnessed the operation of a heat pump. Refrigerators collect heat from the unit’s interior and move it to the exterior for cooling purposes. Unlike a refrigerator, a heat pump can reverse itself. An air-source heat pump, for example, can extract heat from outdoor air and pump it indoors for heating purposes.

A geothermal heat pump works the same way, except that its heat source is the warmth of the earth. The process of elevating

low-temperature heat to over 100°F and transferring it indoors involves a cycle of evaporation, compression, condensation and expansion. A refrigerant is used as the heat-transfer medium which circulates within the heat pump. The cycle starts as the cold, liquid refrigerant passes through a heat exchanger (evaporator) and absorbs heat from the low-temperature source (fluid from the ground loop). The refrigerant evaporates into a gas as heat is absorbed.

The gaseous refrigerant then passes through a compressor where the refrigerant is pressurized, raising its temperature to more than 180°F. The hot gas then circulates through a refrigerant-to-air heat exchanger where heat is removed and pumped into the building at about 100°F. When it loses the heat, the refrigerant changes back to a liquid. The liquid is cooled as it passes through an expansion valve and begins the process again. To work as an air conditioner, the system’s flow is reversed.

One thing that makes a geothermal heat pump so versatile is its ability to be a heating and cooling system in one. With a simple flip of a switch on your indoor thermostat, you can change from one mode to another. In the cooling mode, a geothermal heat pump takes heat from indoors and transfers it to the cooler earth through either groundwater or an underground earth loop system. In the heating mode, the process is reversed.

Yes. Some geothermal heat pumps can provide all of your hot water needs at the same high efficiencies as the heating/cooling cycles. An option called a hot water assist can be added to most heat pumps. It will provide significant savings by heating water before it enters your hot water tank.

There are two main types: open and closed.

An open loop system uses groundwater from an ordinary well as a heat source. The groundwater is pumped into the heat pump unit where heat is extracted and the water is disposed of in an environmentally safe manner. Because groundwater is a relatively constant temperature year-round, wells are an excellent heat source.

A closed loop system uses a continuous loop of buried polyethylene pipe. The pipe is connected to the indoor heat pump to form a sealed, underground loop through which an environmentally friendly antifreeze-and-water solution is circulated. A closed loop system constantly recirculates its heat-transferring solution in pressurized pipe, unlike an open loop system that consumes water from a well. Most closed loops are trenched horizontally in areas adjacent to the building. However, where adequate land is not available, loops are vertically bored. Any area near a home or business with appropriate soil conditions and adequate square footage will work.

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