In most regions of the country, heating is a requirement and with our growing country, comes growing energy demand. That opens the door to unconventional heating technologies like geothermal heating.

Here at the Geothermal Guides, we want to keep you informed on all the news in the geothermal world and its growing technology. Our new monthly feature will focus on up and coming technologies and the individuals and businesses that are helping to make our environment greener – one step at a time.

• A home-builder for more than 20 years, Jon Girod, of Vancouver, WA has been looking for ways to incorporate more green building into his new home projects. A new subdivision in Battlefield, WA, Quail Homes, is now incorporating geothermal heating and cooling into its new homes. According to Girod, he “expects the system to save 20 to 30 percent in energy costs in the 3,400-square-foot home, which will be finished in June.”
• Known as the “greenest” federal building, NASA’s “Sustainable Base” at the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field is a 50,000 sq ft office building that houses over 200 NASA employees.  Steve Zornetzer, associate director of NASA Ames Research Center stated, “This building generates more electricity than it consumes, which allows us to support the energy needs of other buildings on the campus. It’s not just net energy zero, it’s net-positive. And it uses 90 percent less water than other buildings.”
• Missouri University of Science and Technology is building a geothermal heat project that is slated to be completed in 2014. A university spokesman stated that “their carbon footprint should be reduced by 25,000 metric tons per year and its water usage cut by 10 percent.” They expect to save more than $1 million in operational costs initially, but these savings should be upwards of $2.8 million in the coming years.
• The Miami Herald reported that NovaThermal Energy LLC, a Philadelphia company wants to utilize something that is never-ending to provide heating and air conditioning to its downtown buildings – sewage. Sewage geothermal may seem a rather odd thing to do, but Linor Haider, the chief executive officer of NovaThermal stated that, “It’s just like geothermal energy, but we’re using a different well source, so to speak.”  The technology began in China and has been very successful. Their pilot project is at the Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant, but they plan to have a second one this year in Camden, NJ.

Do you have geothermal technology news that you would like to share? Leave us comment!

According to the U.S. Department of Energy,

The benefit of ground source heat pumps is that they concentrate naturally existing heat, rather than by producing heat through the combustion of fossil fuels.

Since geothermal heat pumps take advantage of of the heat beneath the surface of the earth, it works much like a cave in that it will stay fairly constant in temperature all year round. This works by keeping the air above it warmer in the winter and cooler during the summer. This can be a huge advantage to most homeowners, especially those that have problems heating or cooling specific areas of their home.

In this Geothermal Guides article, we will outline the top seven reasons you should consider installing a geothermal heat pump in your home or business today.

Higher Efficiency: Geothermal, also called ground source, heat pumps are far more efficient than air source heat pumps. They use 25% to 50% less electricity. Since the HVAC system is the largest user of electricity in most homes, homeowners notice a significant difference in their utility bills after switching to a geothermal system.

Renewable Energy: Rather than relying primarily on fossil fuels, geothermal heat pump systems use a small amount of electricity to run pumps. The heat used by the system comes from the earth; it’s not created by electricity or gas. Heat from the ground is considered a renewable energy because it is naturally occurring like wind or solar energy.

Environmental Responsibility: Because geothermal heat pumps rely very little on fossil fuels, they create less than 25% of the greenhouse gases that conventional systems do. Enthusiasts of green technology are big proponents of geothermal systems.

Greater Longevity: The components of a ground source heat pump are housed indoors so are not susceptible to the ravages of weather. Therefore, their lifespan is 25+ years compared to the average 15-year lifespan of an air source condensing unit. In some cases, they last longer because they are not as susceptible to theft as air source condensing units. The ground loops used in a geothermal system are rated for 50-100 years.

Quieter Operation: Geothermal systems don’t use a standard compressor so they run much more quietly than air source heat pumps or gas furnaces. In addition, the components are typically installed in a basement. There’s no noisy compressor running right outside your home.

Design Flexibility: The design of the system is very versatile and can be retrofitted to existing construction as easily as it can be designed for new construction. In addition, regardless of the size of the parcel of land, a geothermal heat pump system can be designed to fit it.

Added Home Value: Some homeowners are reluctant to have a contractor install a ground source system because of the initial expense. But when they are looking for a home, those with geothermal heating units already installed are very attractive because of the much lower utility bills they produce. Studies show that they increase the value of homes considerably.

With so many advantages, it’s not surprising that more homeowners are choosing a geothermal heat pump system. If you consider buying one for your home, make sure you do lots of research and search out geothermal product reviews, and also the cost and installation prices that you might incur.

In this Geothermal Heat Pump Guide, we’ll look at what it takes to service a high-efficiency Geothermal heat pump system, and discuss the annual maintenance of a geothermal heat pump system. Listed below are the primary reasons that geothermal heat pump systems cost less to maintain through the years. You can also read a full rundown of the pros and cons of Geothermal for more info.

1. Operating costs are lower: In a typical year, you’ll spend 30%-60% less on energy with a geothermal heat pump than with an air source heat pump or conventional split system, making the cost of Geothermal versus others quite a good case to own one!

2. The Equipment is less complex: Giving the energy savings that ground source heat pumps produce, you might be surprised that they are not as complex as air source heat pumps. To begin with, they are not split systems. All of the components are housed together, usually inside the home. There are fewer moving parts and less equipment that has to be serviced and maintained. They operate very simply and efficiently, and aside from the cost of installation, are very basic mechanical units.

3. Geothermal heat pumps have a better service record: It’s important to maintain your geothermal heat pump yearly, the same as you would do with an air source heat pump. However, they take less time to service, reducing your annual costs for maintenance. They break down less frequently than other HVAC systems, and aside from very few disadvantages of Geothermal, they have a much better maintenance record.

4. Geothermal units last longer: Air source heat pumps are usually backed by a 10-year warranty and they last an average of 15-17 years. Geothermal heat pumps are often covered by a longer warranty so your risk of paying for parts is reduced. Secondly, the components have a lifespan of 25+ years in most cases. You won’t be replacing the unit nearly as quickly as you will with an air source unit. The underground loops in a geothermal system are typically covered by a warranty of up to 50 years. According to the Consumer Energy Center, owners of Geothermal systems have the highest satisfaction rating among all other types of hvac technology!

The one exception to the rule that geothermal heat pumps cost less to maintain occurs when an underground loop breaks. This rarely happens – and in most cases the loop has a 50-year warranty. Locating and fixing the break can be costly

Beyond the higher initial expense of installing a geothermal heat pump, they have a track record for lower maintenance and service costs than air source heat pumps. This is just another reason why geothermal systems are growing in popularity every year.

In this Geothermal Guide, we’ll help you understand how Geothermal heat pump ratings describe how efficiently the unit performs. How the energy efficiency is measured in several ways, and which are the most common geothermal heat pump ratings you’ll see and what they mean.

These geothermal heat pump ratings make it easy to evaluate the efficiency of individual systems and to compare one system to another, while browsing the different Geothermal heat pump reviews you read. The higher these ratings are, the lower your utilities will be and the “greener” your home will be.

SEER – Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating

SEER: This is the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating, or Ratio. It is used to measure how efficiently the system works in air conditioning mode. The higher the SEER, the more efficiently the unit is using electricity to cool a home.

SEER is determined over the course of an entire cooling season. The total amount of heat removed by the system is divided by the energy used to do it.

The equation: SEER = Total BTUs removed/Total watt-hours consumed.

EER – Energy Efficient Rating

EER: This is the Energy Efficient Rating, or Ratio. While SEER measures performance over the course of a cooling season, EER measures it at a specific point in time. The industry uses 95 degrees as a benchmark. How many BTUs of heat the unit can remove per one hour when the temperature is 95 degrees is divided by the energy required.

The equation: EER = Total BTUs removed/watts of electricity consumed.

HSPF – Heating Seasonal Performance Factor

HSPF: This is the Heating Seasonal Performance Factor. It is the equivalent of SEER except that it measures heating rather than cooling. HSPF is determined by dividing the BTUs of heat generated by the heat pump by the total amount of electricity used to do it over the course of a season. HSPF is one of the most common factors used to compare Geothermal to other heat pump systems.

The equation: HSPF = Total BTUs produced/Total watt-hours consumed.

COP – Coefficient of Performance

COP: Coefficient of Performance measures how effectively a geothermal heat pump multiplies the performance of the electricity it uses. An electric furnace uses one unit of electricity to get one – or slightly less than one – unit of heat. There is no multiplication, so the COP of a heat pump is about 1.0.

Geothermal heat pumps don’t use electricity to directly create heat. Instead, they use electricity to cycle water through the ground and into the system. The water collects geothermal heat and refrigerant does the work of drawing heat out of the circulating water. This is a much more efficient process than an electric furnace is capable of. Geothermal heat pumps create far more BTUs of heat than the number of BTUs used to run them.

So although geothermal heat pump prices may be higher, the efficiency savings will pay you back much quicker.

Because of the multiplying effects of refrigerant, the COP of a geothermal heat pump is usually above 2.8 and may be closer to 4.0 or higher. This means that for every BTU used to create electricity to run the system, the system generates 2.8 to 4.0 BTUs of heat.

The equation: COP = Total BTUs produced/Total BTUs consumed.

What Did We Miss?

Help us to help you more. If you have questions about Geothermal heat Pump Ratings, and the terms and phrases that let you understand how efficient they are, please ask in the comments section below.