Geothermal heating is a new greener way to heat your home. It takes advantage of the earth’s constant temperature below the frost line and harnesses the heat to use in your house, office or commercial building. Experts say that a full geothermal heating system can save you up to 40% on your energy bills while decreasing your household emissions dramatically. On the surface it sounds like the best thing since electricity but how does it really work and are the benefits worth the rather large investment?

The Principles Behind Geothermal Heating Systems

The idea behind this great new energy source involves harnessing the Earth’s heat and using it to warm your house. This is done by drilling a series of boreholes close to your property and inserting looped pipes filled with a conductive fluid, such as water with added antifreeze. The average property needs 2 or 3 boreholes to provide adequate geothermal energy and they need to be between 150-300ft deep to be effective! Once the looped pipes are in place, they can then be linked up with a Ground Source Heat Pump which circulates the fluid around the pipe. As it circulates, the fluid absorbs the earth’s heat, which is a constant 57 degrees Fahrenheit below the frost level, and brings it to the surface where it is extracted by a heat exchanger. From here the heat goes to each of the rooms in the house via a suitable heating system.

Obviously this description is a simplification but it gives the general idea behind the process. Once in the house, the heat is distributed to where it is needed by means of individual heat pumps in each room. So for example, if you want more heat in a specific room then you simply turn up the thermostat and more heat is pumped from the Ground Source Heat Pump into the room.

The Benefits of Geothermal Heating

As already mentioned, geothermal heating systems can reduce your heating costs by up to 40% however the average household sees savings of around 25%. Also, once installed the system virtually cares for itself and problems are very rarely encountered. You can vary the amount of heat released into each individual room and easily turn rooms off when not in use. In the warmer months, the main ground pump can be used in reverse so that it pumps heat out of the house and back into the ground which means that it effectively acts as a cooling system for the entire home.

The Downside

Unfortunately there is always a downside with new concepts and geothermal heating is no exception. The entire heating system is required to get the best from this type of energy source and with a starting price of around £6000 it doesn’t come cheap. Based on the average annual savings that you could attain, it would still take you a very long time to recoup your investment however if money is no object then this is definitely one of the better renewable energy sources to go for.

Guest Article by Clare Lynock