A good many residents here in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, have enlisted American Air Specialists to turn their homes into geothermal homes. Still suspicious of geothermal heating and cooling yourself? Knowing a bit of the science behind it – and the mechanics as well – would probably help.
We’ve discusseded elsewhere the merits of geothermal heating and cooling. Suffice it to say here that almost no other manner of maintaining apleasant home environment throughout the year are as efficient, trustworthy, or ultimately budget-friendly, particularlly when you factor in the energy savings.
Here’s how geothermal works that magic.
Thar’s Gold Heat in Them Thar Hills!
We tap the earth for precious metals. We tap the earth for oil. Now, to a heretofore unparalleled degree, we’re tapping the earth for a commodity undoubtedly just as valuable to many of us: the energy to heat and cool our homes that doesn’t entail oil.
You see, close beneath the earth’s crust – we’re talking no more than 33,000 feet under our feet – is a mantle of magma. This is a molten and semi-molten brew, mainly of silicates, in which temperatures range from 1300 degrees Fahrenheit to 2400 degrees Fahrenheit and hotter the deeper you go (not that you’d want to go there!). What this serves to do is keep the ground immediately under the earth’s surface at a fairly constant year-round temperature of between 45 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The upshot? Underground temperatures in Hattiesburg (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!
What geothermal heating and cooling systems do, then, is transfer heat from the ground to your home or heat from your home to the ground, as the season dictates. Either way, your home remains at the perfect temperature to keep you and your family happy, whatever the season.
The apparatus that performs the transfer is a geothermal heat pump. It continuously circulates water or some mixture (typically antifreeze) between your home and loops of piping (typically fashioned of polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, PVC, or CPVC) placed in the ground. In Winter, the liquid is cold when it enters the ground. As it courses through the loops, it assimilates heat from the earth and is reintroduced to your home warm. In Summer, the process is reversed: warm liquid goes into the loops, where it assimilates 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 key point is that geothermal heating and cooling systems don’t produce energy. They’re not like central heating systems, which generate heat themselves. Instead, geothermal systems heat and cool your home by using the energy already richly available beneath the earth’s surface. That’s why geothermal systems are not only quieter but also much more trustworthy, need less maintenance, have far longer lifespans, and are more environmentally friendly than old-school HVACs. That’s also why, in the long run, you’ll save lots more more money by going geothermal.
Curious now? Get together with American Air Specialists, your Hattiesburg geothermal heating and cooling specialist, today.