What Is a Geothermal System and How Can It Benefit Your Home?

02/18/2021

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Heating and cooling your home is typically 42% of your energy bill every month. After your mortgage payment, your energy bill is one of the most significant expenses you’ll face.

All that energy you are using impacts not only your pocketbook but also the environment. Your energy output directly impacts how much carbon is released into the air, affecting climate change and global warming.

However, one of the best ways to reduce the environmental impact and cost of heating your home is a geothermal system.

These systems rely on about as much power as a refrigerator motor and will last for 50 years. Your average furnace needs constant maintenance and has a quarter of that lifespan.

In the following article, we’ll look at the benefits of heating and cooling your home with a geothermal system and why it might be right for you.

How Does a Geothermal System Work?

While temperatures can vary wildly on planet Earth’s surface, a few meters below the ground, things are a cool constant. The ground temperature at that depth stays a steady 50 to 60 degrees.

Developed in the 1940s, geothermal heating and cooling systems use this constant temperature flow to move that energy into your home.

Using a geothermal heat pump and a series of pipes, dubbed High-Density Polyethylene pipes or HDPE pipes, warm air is either pulled away from your home or heating energy is drawn from deep within the ground.

This is done in several different ways, described as loops.

Open-Loop Systems

We start with an open-loop system because they are the most uncommon. However, they could be the most cost-effective because they may not require as much digging. These open-loop systems need a pond or lake to work properly, so it is something to consider if you are situated near one.

OHowever, they need a deep well of clean water to work. Otherwise, you should look at a closed-loop system for your residential heating needs.

Closed-Loop Systems

These systems are a series of HDPE pipes laid at a certain depth and a specific horizontal or vertical formation.

They all work by using a heat exchanger to move an antifreeze through the ground’s warm temperature and absorbing or dispersing energy. It’s called closed because, like a boiler, the antifreeze never leaves the loop but continually circulates.

Vertical Loops

Popular with larger buildings, usually commercial or public facilities, vertical loops are used when there is less space to work with. Usually dug about 15 feet apart, the three or four loops in a vertical system then head downward. These loops can extend anywhere in depth from 100 feet to 300 feet.

Again, the loops consist of HDPE pipe. A well-digging rig is used to drill each up-and-down loop.

Horizontal Loops

These loops are used when the homeowner has some space to work with. These horizontal loops of HDPE pipe are set about 6-feet below the ground. It takes about 400 feet of HDPE pipe to heat a 2,000 square-foot residence.

Horizontal loops are the most commonly installed geothermal heating and cooling systems.

The Costs of Geothermal

As you’ve probably guessed, the upfront costs of all this drilling can set the homeowner back when installing a geothermal system. These systems can run upwards of $25,000 to $40,000.

However, the benefits may outweigh those costs. You’ll save anywhere from 40% to 60% on your energy bill with geothermal. Plus, you will hardly ever need to do any maintenance.

You can count on reliable heating and cooling for your home for about 50 years. Most homeowners say the system has paid for itself within ten years.

A Great Choice Today

A geothermal system is great for our environment. It requires only a little electricity to keep the heat exchange pump going, and this will help you reduce your reliance on polluting forms of energy production.

If you are interested in learning more about installing a geothermal system in Oklahoma, look no further than Advantage Plumbing Heating and Cooling.

Located in Stillwater, Advantage Plumbing can help you get started on a new system immediately.

Are you ready to talk to a representative? Contact Advantage today.

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