subject: Ground Source Heating Makes Perfect Sense For Your Home Energy [print this page] Property owners are experiencing a sharp rise in the costs to heat and cool their homes. Countless are looking to new innovations that will certainly reduce their price and defend the planets resources.
Natural gas, coal and heating oil are the prevailing energy sources to heat and cool homes in the United States. With the cost of carbon-based fuels rising, and the environmental emphasis to reduce carbon emissions, people are actively seeking economical, clean and renewable sources of energy to power their heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
Technologies to capture wind, solar and ground sourced energy, are all vying to be the new standard of renewable energy. Wind and solar can be cost effective for residential and commercial use in some fairly limited geographic regions. However, ground sourced energy has broad applicability geographically. Solar and wind depend on sustained levels of wind or sunlight to be effective. Where as ground sourced technology captures the solar energy that is naturally stored within the earth's crust. Earth can be a source of heat in winter and a heat sink for cooling in the summer. Depending on latitude, the ground temperature a few feet below the surface can range from 45 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
A ground source heat pump (GSHP) is a heating and/or cooling system that extracts heat from the ground in winter (for heating) and in summer transfers heat in the air back (for cooling) into the ground. The system uses electricity to power the pump, a network of underground pipes, and a water and anti-freeze mixture that circulates throughout the system. A heat exchanger in the system will either transfer heat into or out of the home based on the thermostat setting.
Generally, a closed-loop GSHP system is the most cost effective solution for residential applications. Installation of a GSHP system is most economical with new construction. However, existing homes with adequate land, can also have GSHP systems installed. The pipes are placed in trenches dug to various depths depending on the configuration of the pipe network. The most cost effective method uses pipe that is coiled or looped. Looping the pipe reduces the amount of trenching and lowers the installation costs. The mixture of water and anti-freeze is recirculated through the system by the heat pump. The thermostat setting will determine whether the heat exchanger is to take the heat from the ground to heat the home or take the heat from the home and move it to the ground to cool the home.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a GSHP system uses 25% to 50% less electricity than a conventional HVAC system. It can reduce carbon emissions by up to 72% compared to conventional HVAC systems. GSHP systems maintain about 50% relative indoor humidity, making it very effective in humid climates.
GSHP hardware requires less space than conventional HVAC installations. They allow for rooms to be efficiently "zoned" so they can be heated or cooled to different temperatures.
GSHP systems are durable and highly reliable. There are few moving parts. All but the underground piping is installed inside the house so the mechanical parts are protected. The underground piping typically carries a 25 to 50 year warranty and the heat pumps often operate over 20 years. Unlike conventional HVAC that require noisy fans and condensers to operate, GSHP are so quiet that you don't know it's running.
The initial cost for a GSHP is higher than a conventional HVAC system. However, over the long run, GSHP systems save money on operating and maintenance costs.
