Green Technology

Geothermal Technology

One of the challenges we face when opting for green is to find technologies that give a quick return on investment, and work for every home. One of the best is geothermal technology.

Geothermal heating takes advantage of the earth’s renewable energy by extracting heat from underground through a system of tubing that’s filled with a liquid refrigerant. The liquid absorbs the heat from the earth, which is then brought back into a heat pump inside your home.

If you go below frost depth (4 to 6 feet, depending on geography), the earth maintains a constant average temperature. That soil temperature is an average of 5 degrees Celsius—much warmer than the air temperature in winter.

A geothermal heating system only needs to raise the temperature about 10 degrees (from 5 degrees to 15 degrees) to keep your home comfortable on even the coldest days. That doesn’t require a lot of energy, especially if you compare it to raising the temperature from 10 below, or whatever the external air temperature happens to be on a winter day.

In the summer months, geothermal systems operate in reverse—heat is transferred from the house and back into the earth, where the cool ground absorbs the excess heat. Cool air is brought back up.

A geothermal system is more expensive to install than a conventional gas or oil system, but can cut heating and cooling costs by up to 70%. It provides a comfortable steady heat in winter, compared to the blast of hot air you get from a forced air heating system, and in summer, eliminates the need for a big noisy A/C unit on the exterior of your house.

There are millions of BTUs of energy under the ground. They will be there forever and be constantly renewed.