Geothermal Heat Pumps
The Environmental Protection Agency claims ground heat exchange systems are the most energy efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective space conditioning systems available. The installation of a ground heat pump accomplishes ground heat exchange. A heat pump transfers heat from one position to another. A common familiar household heat pump the refrigerator resides in just about every home. A ground heat pump operates in the same manner as a refrigerator, but deposits its end heat into the most abundant resources on earth, soil and rock, instead of the air. The US department of energy reports cost of installing geothermal system will be initially high between $7,000 and $9,000 for a typical residential sized home as compared to $4000 for a traditional air conditioning or forced air heating system. Generally speaking the new installation will pay for itself between 2 to 10 years due to the significantly decreased energy use. Annual energy savings can be expected to be within the 30% to 60% range.