Geothermal Heating Systems Save Money!!!

THE TIME FOR GEOTHERMAL IS NOW

There has never been a better time to install a geothermal heating system in your home or business.  Everyone knows how out of control fuel oil prices are.  The real question is what to do about?  Granted, some really great advances have been made in the efficiency of conventional fossil fuel systems.  However, the instability of the fossil fuel market still makes these a risky investment.  So lets take a closer look at what a geothermal system is and how it can save you big bucks.
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WHAT EXACTLY IS GEOTHERMAL

There is a long answer to this question and a short answer.  I could spend days and countless pages going into the description of the complicated process of refrigerant gasses boiling, and heat energy being transferred through this process.  So, for now lets go with the short answer.  

Geothermal Heating is the process of transferring heat from one place to another.   It is done through a machine called a Ground Source Heat Pump.  To understand this lets look at the Heat Pump in your kitchen.  Yes, there is a Heat Pump in your Kitchen.  You call it a refrigerator.  Have you ever wondered why the back of your fridge is warm?  It's simple really.  Your heat pump, A.K.A. fridge, has just pump the heat out of that beverage pack that you just put in there.  So, you put six seventy degree beverages in your fridge and it "pumped" the heat out of them until they were forty degrees.  Those extra degrees went out the back of the fridge.  Voila, heat, pumped into your house.   Now those six beverages only have so much heat in them.  Your kitchen heat pump has the heat out in a few hours.  So that wouldn't be enough to heat your whole house.  So where can you get more heat?

ALL THE HEAT YOU NEED IS IN YOUR YARD

Now, what if we took a fancy refrigerator (A.K.A. Ground Source Heat Pump) and we placed pipes in your yard to pump water through.  Then this water gets heated to ground temperature and cycles through the heat pump.  The Heat Pump then pumps the heat out of your yard and into your house.  Voila, FREE HEAT.  Yes, the heat in your yard is free!!! All you have to do is have a Ground Source Heat Pump to transfer the heat into you house.  This Heat Pump replaces your existing furnace and you are all set.  Never, never buy fuel oil or gas again.  I know what your saying.  There must be a catch.  How can my 45 degree ground heat my house to seventy degrees? 

ENTER THE JUNIOR HIGH SHOP TEACHER

When my junior high shop teacher told me this I thought he was crazy.  He said to us "I'm going to heat two pieces of metal to red hot.  One will be a needle the other a large bolt.  Then I am going to have you hold one in your hand.  Which one do you want?"  I said "What?!"  I realize now he had a point.  Both pieces of metal were over a thousand degrees.  One, had more heat than the other.  That's the difference between heat and temperature.  Yes, your yard is probably less than fifty degrees.  However, your new heat pump has the ability to compress that "heat" and turn it into a nice warm seventy degree house for.  So although the heat in your yard is free you do need some electricity to run your heat pump. This is what we call a C.O.P.  Basically, a fancy way to say if you buy one unit of electricity in your house how many units of heat do you get.  Most ground source heat pumps produce 4 to 5 units of heat for every 1 unit you pay for.  So the other 3 or 4 units are literally free!  Look at it this way.  Let's say you had ten 220 amp breakers running electric heat in your house.  Then let's say you installed a geothermal heat pump and you were able to use only two of those 220 amp breakers.  Literally cutting your electric heat bill by 80%.  So if you used to pay $500 a month to heat your house you would now be down to $100 if your geothermal unit's C.O.P. were 5. 

IS A GEOTHERMAL UNIT RIGHT FOR YOU

Again the short answer is yes.  Just so long as your not opposed to free heat.  The longer more complicated answer is maybe.  Not all homes and yards are suitable for geothermal.  There are many other factors, including area, yard size, house insulation and your personnel budget needs.    Click on the links below for more information:
DIY Geothermal Heat Pumps
Add solar electric for even more savings!!!