What is Geothermal Heating?
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 let's 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 pumped the heat out of that beverage pack that you just put in there. So, you put 6 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 6 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?
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 pumped the heat out of that beverage pack that you just put in there. So, you put 6 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 6 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?
Geothermal Resources
The Smart Guide to Geothermal: How to Harvest Earth's Free Energy for Heating and Cooling
Amazon Price: $11.99 (as of 01/08/2012) 
RESIDENTIAL GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS: Heating And Cooling Using The Ground Below
Amazon Price: $41.85 (as of 01/08/2012)
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 your 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. 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
Now that you have the answer to the question "What is Geothermal Heating", you have to be wondering, "is geothermal heating right for me?" 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 link below for more information on Geothermal heating:
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Using geothermal for heating and cooling changes the way you pay for energy. Because you are taking advantage of the natural heating (or cooling) capacity of the earth, on property you own, you are drawing upon a new resource that is essentially free.
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