The weather is starting to cool off, which means now is the time to start getting your home ready for winter. If you’re in the market for a new heating system, you’re probably looking at a number of different options. One of the system types you should be looking at is geothermal. Let’s take a look at geothermal heating, how it works, and how it can benefit you.
What Is Geothermal Heating?
A geothermal system is a heat pump, which means it uses refrigerant to move heat from one place to the other. Unlike the typical heat pump, though, a geothermal heat pump never siphons thermal energy from the outside air. Instead, the system relies on a buried pipe loop filled with water. The system cycles water through the loop and into the central unit. The thermal energy is siphoned from the water, which is then returned to the pipe loop. When in cooling mode, the system collects thermal energy from the home and vents it into the pipe loop to deposit it in the ground.
Advantages of Geothermal Heating
At a depth of around 20-30 feet underground, the temperature remains at a near-constant 55°F. This provides a practically infinite supply of thermal energy for the system to use. When the temperature drops well below freezing outside, there’s less thermal energy available for the heat pump to use. A geothermal heat pump doesn’t have to worry about this loss of efficiency, because it gets all of its heat from underground. With a geothermal heat pump, you receive all the advantages of a heat pump system without any of the disadvantages.
Sunset Air offers comprehensive geothermal heat pump installation services throughout Olympia, WA. If you need geothermal services of any kind, call today to schedule an appointment with one of our heating experts.
