Geothermal Heating
I recently learned about Geothermal Heating from one of my coworkers who is considering installing the system in his home. I guess I had heard about this before, but I didn’t really know what it was all about. What exactly is geothermal heating? and why don’t more people use it, or if they do, why don’t we talk about it?
From what I’ve gathered, geothermal heating is a method of basically heating and cooling your home by taking advantage of the warmth stored in the earth. Normally the earth’s temperature is at about 55 degrees about 10 feet down. This is good in warmer climates, as you can use that to cool your home. In cooler climates it can be used for warmth. One can harness the earth’s temperatures by drilling deep holes, 6 to 200 feet deep, and placing pipes down the shafts. In effect, you are creating wells that will help circulate liquids and air that can be brought up to flow through your home.
There are two different types of geothermal heating systems. There are closed loop systems and open loop systems. Closed loop systems continuously circulate water and antifreeze through the loops and into a heat exchange system, which can be controlled at a thermostat. These systems are primarily used for heating. An open loop system, used more for cooling, has pipes leading to water wells or into deep water. It draws water from these and circulates the water through the house, providing cooler temperatures. The water is then circulated right back to that source, but further away from where it is drawn so to keep the cool temperature.
It sounds like geothermal heating is pretty great and one of the most efficient ways to heat and cool your home. Geothermal heating also has the benefit in that it helps conserve non-renewable resources, such as natural gas and oil, which, when burned, helps contribute to acid rain, green house gases and smog. The one thing that might steer people away from geothermal heating is the initial high costs for installing the system, between the drilling, laying the pipe and manpower. But the benefits, monetary and environmental, far outweigh the costs in the long run.