The following contribution is from another author.
There are lots of different heating/cooling systems you can install in your home. Most people don’t realize this as the majority of homes are built with the same boring systems: furnaces and air conditioning units.
Why? Mainly because these systems are quick and easy to install. They are certainly not the best in terms of efficiency or eco-friendliness – which brings us nicely to the topic of today’s article. As you can probably guess, we’re looking at geothermal heating systems. This is a relatively new type of system that plenty of homes are adopting. Let’s take a look at what geothermal heating is and why it could be the best thing to happen to your home!
What is a geothermal heating system?
You may come across the term “ground source heat pumps” and this is another word for geothermal heating systems. In essence, this system revolves around using renewable energy to control your home’s interior temperature.
Geothermal systems use the ground to generate energy. It takes heat from the ground and transfers it to internal heating appliances – like radiators. The opposite happens with geothermal cooling systems; heat is taken from your home and transferred into the ground to reduce its overall temperature.
How do these systems work?
You will need a ground loop pipe buried in your garden that circles your property. This pipe is filled with water and glycol (a type of antifreeze solution), which collects heat from the ground. The glycol takes this heat and moves it through the loop into a heat pump. The pump then takes this heat and moves it to your home.
It’s fairly simple and all of the energy is completely renewable. The whole basis of geothermal heating works because the ground is always naturally warm. As the sun beats down on the earth, heat gets trapped beneath the layers and stays there. Even during the winter, there’s enough heat underground to power your heating system and keep you warm.
What are the benefits of geothermal heating systems?
The key benefit is that this is the most eco-friendly heating system out there. Your central heating is powered by renewable energy. Effectively, you’re using your yard as a giant solar panel. The earth absorbs solar energy from the sun, and your geothermal system converts this into heat to use in your home.
As a result, it’s also very cost-effective. Outside of the initial set-up fees, you will pay hardly anything for your energy. In theory, you could get use a geothermal heat pump to cover all of your heating and hot water needs. This drastically reduces energy bills every month forever.
What are the downsides of geothermal heating systems?
There are two minor downsides. One is that it requires a decent amount of installation. You can use trusted companies like Warren Systems to handle this, but you can’t hide from the fact that your yard will need to be dug up a bit. There’s certainly more work involved than switching to a more efficient furnace!
The other downside is that you can’t reach the same heat levels as a traditional furnace. Geothermal heat pumps cannot get as hot, which may be an issue for some households. Provided your house is well insulated and free from drafts, you shouldn’t have any problems.
All in all, this is a brilliant heating/cooling system to keep in mind. Particularly if you’re interested in becoming greener or saving money on your energy bills. Perhaps it’s time to give your old furnace the boot and adopt a more efficient approach!
Thanks for sharing this clear and well-written post! We got nothing to add.