Geothermal heating and cooling technology relies primarily on the Earth~`s natural thermal energy, a renewable resource, to heat or cool a house,multi-family dwelling or any types of buildings. The only additional energy geothermal heat pump systems require is the small amount of electricity they employ to concentrate what Mother Nature provides and then to circulate high-quality heating and cooling throughout the building.

Home and building owners who use geothermal heat pump systems give them superior ratings because of their ability to deliver comfortably warm air, even on the coldest winter days, and because of their extraordinarily low operating costs. As an additional benefit, these systems can provide inexpensive hot water, either to supplement or replace entirely the output of a conventional, domestic water heater.

Geothermal or ground-source heating and cooling is cost effective because it uses energy so efficiently. This makes it very environmentally friendly, too. For these reasons, governmental offices like the Environmental Protection Bureau, Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Energy, as well as other local governments, endorse it.

Owners of geothermal heat pump systems can relax and enjoy high-quality heating and cooling year after year. These systems work on a different principle than an ordinary furnace/air conditioning system, and they require little maintenance or attention from home/building owners. Furnaces must create heat by burning a fuel--typically natural gas, propane, or fuel oil. With geothermal heat pump systems, there~`s no need to create heat, hence no need for chemical combustion. Instead, the Earth~`s natural heat is collected in winter through a series of pipes, called a loop, installed below the surface of the ground or submersed in a pond or lake. Fluid circulating in the loop carries this heat to the building. An indoor geo-system then uses electrically-driven compressors and heat exchangers in a vapor compression cycle--the same principle employed in a refrigerator--to concentrate the Earth~`s energy and release it inside the building at a higher temperature. In typical systems, duct fans distribute the heat to various rooms.

In summer, the process is reversed in order to cool the building. Excess heat is drawn from the home, expelled to the loop, and absorbed by the Earth. Geothermal heat pump systems provide cooling in the same way that a refrigerator keeps its contents cool--by drawing heat from the interior, not by injecting cold air.

Geothermal heat pump systems do the work that ordinarily requires two appliances, a furnace(or central district heating system) and an air conditioner. They can be located indoors because there~`s no need to exchange heat with the outdoor air. They~`re so quiet home/building owners don?t even realize they~`re on. They are also compact. Typically, they are installed in a basement, mechanical room or attic, and some are small enough to fit atop a closet shelf. The indoor location also means the equipment is protected from mechanical breakdowns that could result from exposure to harsh weather.

Geothermal heat pump works differently than conventional heat pumps that use the outdoor air as their heat source or heat sink. Geo-systems don~`t have to work as hard (which means they use less energy) because they draw heat from a source whose temperature is moderate. The temperature of the ground or groundwater a few meters beneath the Earth~`s surface remains relatively constant throughout the year, even though the outdoor air temperature may fluctuate greatly with the change of seasons. At a depth of approximately 1.83 meter, for example, the temperature of soil in most of the world~`s regions remains stable between 7.2 C and 21.1 C. This is why well water drawn from below ground tastes so cool even on the hottest summer days.

In winter, it~`s much easier to capture heat from the soil at a moderate 10 C. than from the atmosphere when the air temperature is below zero. This is also why geothermal heat pump systems encounter no difficulty blowing comfortably warm air through a home/building~`s ventilation system, even when the outdoor air temperature is extremely cold. Conversely, in summer, the relatively cool ground absorbs a home/building~`s waste heat more readily than the warm outdoor air. Studies show that approximately 70 percent of the energy used in a geothermal heat pump heating and cooling system is renewable energy from the ground. The remainder is clean, electrical energy which is employed to concentrate heat and transport it from one location to another. In winter, the ground soaks up solar energy and provides a barrier to cold air. In summer, the ground heats up more slowly than the outside air.