Plenty of people here in Atlanta, Georgia, have signed on with EcoMech to upgrade their homes to geothermal homes. Still hesitant about geothermal heating and cooling yourself? Knowing a bit of the science behind it – and the mechanics as well – may help.
We’ve discusseded elsewhere the advantages of geothermal heating and cooling. Suffice it to say here that few other manner of maintaining apleasant home environment throughout the year are as efficient, reliable, or ultimately thrifty, particularlly when you factor in the energy savings.
Here’s how geothermal works its magic.
Thar’s Gold Heat in Them Thar Hills!
We mine the earth for precious metals. We drill the earth for oil. Now, more than ever, we’re tapping the earth for a resource undoubtedly just as valuable to the majority of us: the energy to heat and cool our homes that doesn’t involve oil.
You see, close beneath the earth’s crust – we’re talking no more than 33,000 feet under our feet – is a stratum of magma. This is a molten and semi-molten blend, for the most part comprised of silicates, in which temperatures run from 1300 degrees Fahrenheit to 2400 degrees Fahrenheit and hotter the deeper you go (not that you’d want to go there!). What this does is keep the ground immediately under the earth’s surface at a fairly stable year-round temperature of between 45 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Meaning? Underground temperatures in Atlanta (and most places stateside, as it were) are warmer than the ambient air above ground in Winter and cooler than the ambient air above ground in Summer.
Time to Get Pumped!
The task, then, of a geothermal heating and cooling system is to|Underground temperatures being what they are, then, it’s the job of a geothermal heating and cooling system to transfer heat from the ground to your home or heat from your home to the ground, in keeping with the season. Either way, your home’s interior stays at an optimal temperature to keep you and your family in comfort year-round.
The device that performs the transfer is a geothermal heat pump. It continuously circulates water or some blend (usually antifreeze) between your home and loops of pipe (usually fashioned of polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, PVC, or CPVC) buried in the ground. In Winter, the liquid is cold when it enters the ground. As it travels through the loops, it absorbs heat from the earth and is reintroduced to your home warm. In Summer, the process is reversed: warm liquid is brought into the loops, where it absorbs the cooler ground temperatures before it’s returned to your home. Looking for details? You’ll find more specific information on ground loops here.
The salient point is that geothermal heating and cooling systems don’t produce energy. They aren’t like central heating systems, which generate heat themselves. Instead, geothermal systems heat and cool your home by putting to use the energy already richly available beneath the earth’s surface. That’s why geothermal systems are not only quieter but also much more reliable, need less maintenance, have significantly longer lifespans, and are more environmentally friendly than traditional HVACs. That’s also why, ultimately, you’ll save appreciably more more money by going geothermal.
Curious now? See EcoMech, your Atlanta geothermal heating and cooling authority, today.