When you’re considering a new HVAC system for your home, consider geothermal heating and cooling. According to the U.S. EPA, these systems offer the highest level of energy efficiency when compared to air-source heat pumps and combustion furnaces. They utilize the stored solar energy underground to heat and cool your home, produce no pollutants and run quietly.
A geothermal heat pump (GHP) uses a system of underground loops carrying a water/anti-freeze mix as the medium of heat exchange. In the winter, it extracts heat from the ground and brings it inside. In the summer, it removes heat from your home and “rejects” that heat back into the ground. These heat pumps don’t use any fuel except electricity to move heat from one place to another.
The components of the GHP are exceptionally durable. Most manufacturers warranty the loops for 50 years, while the indoor air handler may last 25 years with routine maintenance. They don’t use an outdoor condenser, which saves space in the yard and eliminates the noise condensers create.
Although GHPs cost more to install than other kinds of HVAC systems, they have a high payback in reduced energy bills. The federal EPA estimates that geothermal heating and cooling is 30 to 50 percent more efficient than most combustion fuel heating systems and 20 to 50 percent better at cooling your home.
When the system includes a desuperheater, the energy savings are even higher. Desuperheaters take the waste heat from your home to use it to heat your water in the summer, up to three times more efficiently than your standard water heater. A separate heat exchanger in the heat pump uses some of the excess heat to warm the water and send it to the water heater.
The federal government is offering a generous tax credit for homeowners who install qualifying geothermal heating and cooling systems through 2016. It covers 30 percent of the equipment cost and installation with no upward cap for new and existing homes, including primary and secondary residences.
If you’d like to learn more about a geothermal heating and cooling system for your home, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services. We’ve provided top-notch HVAC services for the Dayton area since 1978.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about Geothermal Heating And Cooling and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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