How Does Geothermal Energy Work?
Ground source heat pumps?
It’s all around us. Heat stored up within the Earth acting like a solar battery which absorbs nearly half of the sun's energy. This results in a relatively constant ground temperature through all seasons.
Enter the ground source heat pump.
Geothermal systems access this renewable resource by simply moving this heat around instead of creating it. Using a system of ground loops which circulate an anti-freeze mixture that picks up the earth’s temperature, these loops then connect to a geothermal unit located within your house or structure.
This in-house unit, the ground source heat pump, is in turn connected to your homes forced air, (or radiant floor) system. This fluid from the loops, which has picked up the earth’s temperature, flows through the heat pump which in turn "harvests" the earth’s heat, using a compressor system for the extraction process.
In the summer season, this process is simply reversed allowing for free air conditioning when the ground source heat pump draws the heat from the inside of the house and transfers it back into the earth for later use.