Geothermal Services

Geothermal FAQs

Geothermal FAQs

Can geothermal well drilling reduce my heating and air bill?

  • Installation costs are offset by reduced electric/gas bills and often by tax incentives. Geothermal heat and air conditioning system require about half of the amount of electricity that is required by conventional systems. Geothermal offers the most cost-effective technologies for regulating your home's temperature. Compared to regular HVAC, these greener systems can reduce your bills by 40-70%.

What are the advantages of geothermal heat, air and water heating?

  • Advantages include:
    • lower energy bills;
    • potential to qualify for special financing through manufacturers, utility companies and lending institutions;
    • possible utility company and tax incentives;
    • reduced maintenance costs; and
    • very quiet (no noisy fans) and environmentally friendly systems.
  • The constant moderate temperature of the ground just below the earth's surface gives geothermal heat and air conditioning systems (GHP) the ability to outperform:
    • gas furnaces by 48%;
    • gas GHP by 36% when in heating mode and
    • gas GHP by 43% when in cooling mode.
  • According to Ecohome magazine: "Geothermal (also called geoexchange, earth-coupled, or ground-source) offers some pretty attractive benefits, from far superior heating and cooling efficiencies compared to even the highest-rated furnaces and air conditioners, to the use of a free, nontoxic resource of ground temperature."
  • Similar to conventional heat and air conditioning unit, geothermal heat and air conditioning systems use high-pressure refrigerant to capture and move heat between indoors and out. Unlike conventional units, GHP systems do not struggle to convert heat from cold winter air. Nor do they have to dump heat into hot summer air. GHP processes are much more efficient. GHP systems extract and produce hot or cold air/water from the earth/ground's temperatures by re-circulating liquid through loops of pipe buried under ground.
  • Geothermal heat and air conditioning systems (GHP) can provide all or part of a household's hot water.
  • Decreased maintenance costs are the result of the geothermal heat pump system's (GHP's) ability to be placed in the attic or basement. Some are even small enough to fit in a closet. The small size and indoor installation protects the units from harsh weather and its associated impact on maintenance costs, plus no large unsightly outside unit or noisy fans. (Great for coastal/high salt water areas where conventional units have to be replaced frequently!)

How do geothermal wells work to heat and cool air?

  • Whether we are trying to heat it or cool ourselves, we are using the ground temperature (~65 degrees in our area) to heat and cool the water in geothermal loops. Since the temperature of the ground; and therefore, the water in the loops is much closer to the temperature that we would like our homes and offices to be, efficiency is realized. Through a series of piping installed below the ground, the water circulating in the loops collects hot energy from the earth in winter or cool energy in the summer. That energy is converted by your geothermal heat/air pump, which uses electricity-driven compressors and heat exchangers in a vapor compression cycle. This cycle concentrates the ground's energy and releases warmer/cooler air inside the home or is used to heat water. For instance, in the summer, excess heat is drawn from the home and expelled into the loop where it is absorbed by the ground. If you have a pump and dump/open loop system, this water may be used for irrigation.

What is required to heat water using a geothermal well?

  • A small auxiliary heat exchanger called a desuperheater can be added to the Geothermal Heat and air conditioning system (GHP) unit to produce hot water. In winter, this desuperheater uses superheated gases from the compressor to produce hot water. In summer, excess heat from the home that would have been expelled back into the loop is used to heat water. The hot water is piped to the hot water tank. During spring or fall, when the GHP system is not in frequent use, a conventional hot water heater may be used to heat water. However, GHP manufacturers offer triple-function systems that include a separate heat exchanger, which meets all household hot water needs.