Geothermal energy is the energy provided by the Earth ever since the formation of the planet. Not only is it cheaper but also environment friendly. For the new millennium, which is running short of its existing resources, geothermal energy is no less than a boon. Read this article to know more about facts related to the geothermal heating and cooling of houses.
Geothermal energy keeps your home warm in winter, cool in summer, cuts your utility bills and is beneficial to the planet Earth all at the same time. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, geothermal energy is the most cleanest and efficient way to cool and heat a home. It is available both, near the surface and within the ground.
The systems that use geothermal energy make use of the property of the planet to restore the solar energy that it receives from the sun. These systems capture the moderate heat present within certain depth below the ground to cool and heat a home. Thus, the ground source heat pump is the main constituent of the geothermal heating and cooling systems.
The heat pump is the essential component of this integral heating and cooling system, which transfers heat from one source to another. Water is withdrawn from a nearby source of temperate fluid like well with the help of an open loop system. This water after running through the heat pump is returned back to the same aquifer. The heat pump uses this heat to provide moderate heat to the houses.
Another common system is the closed loop system. Here a fluid mix is sent through areas that are outside the house so that it can absorb the mild temperatures that are present there. This fluid can be circulated through a site that consists of many excavated outdoor spaces or drilling few wells to substitute piping in areas that are devoid of much space and running through a nearby pond to take in the heat present in the surrounding waters.
When its summer time, the setting of the pump are so adjusted that they allow the reversal of heat back to the ground. This in turn, cools down the house.
The heat efficiency of the pump is very high, as it does not generate heat through processes such as combustion. They are far affordable than the fuel burning furnaces and are also safe for the ecosystem. The durability of the geothermal heating and cooling is as large as 25 years and this is its greatest advantage.
