Geothermal heat pump – The next big thing in home heating systems

Geothermal heat pumps is by far the most economical ways of home heating systems except for its initial cost. If your existing house has high energy bills either because you are currently using propane, oil or electricity for heating or if you are looking at buying a new house for yourself and contemplating on the right heating system – geothermal heat pump could be the solution.

Geothermal heat pumps work in a rather intriguing manner. We are aware of the fact that just a few meters below the earth’s surface the temperature pretty much remains constant (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit) despite the temperature outside. Ground temperature is often warmer than the air above it during the winter and cooler than the air in the summer. Ground-source heat pumps harness this energy store by exchanging heat with the earth through a ground heat exchanger, moving heat from the ground to a dwelling in winter, and pulling heat from the dwelling and expelling it into the ground during summer. A geothermal heat pump is vastly more efficient than conventional heating systems because it does not burn fuel to create warmth; it simply moves existing heat from one place to another. In short, these heat pumps pretty much work like refrigerators, which removes heat from its interior and passing it outside.

There is no denying that installing a geothermal system is expensive. It costs roughly about $15,000 to $35,000 depending on the soil condition, the size of the land, the amount of digging required, site accessibility and so on. For a new home, the installation cost would definitely be on the lower end but for homes that are upgrading it is clearly 40% to 45% more than a traditional heating system. The total cost also depends on the length and type of loop that is installed on the system.

There are several advantages of installing a geothermal home heating system, some of which are:
Lower Operating Costs Compared to other systems, the geothermal heat pump will right away save you 40% to 50% of the total money spent towards maintenance.

Lasts Longer The indoor components of the geothermal pumps lasts easily for about 25 years compared to any other system which could possibly last 15 years. Besides the ground loop lasts a good 50 years making it the whole system the most economical option.

Uses Renewable Energy With the geothermal pump, there is no onsite combustion and hence no emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide or other greenhouse gases.

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