Heating and Air Conditioning From The Earth's Ambient Temperature

People are always looking for ways to get the most out of their energy dollars and be more environmentally conscious. Some people choose to use less power by keeping the thermostat set to a higher temperature in summer and lower in winter. That is fine but it does not account for the discomfort of being too hot or too cold. Others try and harness other alternative methods to offset the amount of electricity they extract from the grid. This is a good idea but it has a number of flaws. For one thing these systems are expensive and require a lot of harmful chemicals to manufacture. For another, if the sun is not shining, solar power is not worth anything. That means the home is only green when weather permits.

Fortunately there is another option that uses less power; less chemicals and will never not work. It is called geothermal heating and air conditioning and it uses an alternative option that is safe, renewable and very inexpensive to operate.

Essentially these geothermal heating and air conditioning systems use the natural heat contained in the crust of the earth to warm a series of looped water pipes beneath the house. These are warmed to the same temperature of the earth and then return back up to the house. Once their heating and air conditioning compressors circulate the temperature controlled environment, as they would have if they had been artificially enhanced.

This allows the home to remain the same temperature as the inside of the earth all year long with little operation costs. Of course as with any thing there is a drawback and that is the initial cost. If by chance the home you are going to be living in has not been built yet there is the potential to install a geothermal heating and air conditioning system without a lot of added cost. On the other hand retrofitting an existing property requires a number of things to be right and cost nearly thirty thousand dollars. This is a lot to invest in something but it is worth remembering that it will seriously save money in the long run and will eliminate the need for outside energy for any sort of climate control need other than the price of running the pump to circulate the water beneath the home.

Heating and air conditioning does not need to be expense and bad for the environment. With geothermal the need for toxic refrigerants is eliminated and the burning of petroleum is no longer used to warm living spaces. The cost to set up can be substantial but the benefit will last forever and never need replacing or repair for the life of the system.