At Air1One Mechanical, we are committed to providing the newest and greenest technologies available in the heating and cooling industry. We are able to discuss with you your alternatives and options to fill your needs as you design your home with the comfort of your family in mind. To this end, we are proud to be able to offer you several Geothermal system options for all your heating and cooling needs. We work only with certified installers of Geofinity Manufacturing geothermal systems.
Why Geothermal
Low operating costs – geothermal heat pumps save money. Annual energy savings for homeowners can be reduced by 30 to 70% in heating mode nad 20 to 50% in cooling mode
Long equipment life – geothermal systems last 20% longer and have lower life cycle costs than traditional heating and cooling systems
Green Technology – geothermal systems eliminate the combustion of fossil fuels and significantly reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses
Comfort – because geothermal systems use the relatively stable temperature of the earth as an energy source, you are assured of a constant, even heat in winter and better humidity control in summer
Quieter Operation – geothermal heat pumps are quiet and discrete, you will hardly notice they are there
Healthy Indoor Air Quality – No carbon monoxide as nothing is burning
Safety – No Flame, no flue, no odors, no carbon monoxide. Safe and reliable operation
Geothermal Heating and Cooling
When some people think of geothermal they think of harnessing the power of volcanoes, drilling holes in the Earth's crust and pouring water in to create a steam vent to turn a generator. Technically such things are possible, but they're also largely unnecessary. A lot of heat can actually be derived just by drilling down a little and using nothing more than air circulation to get heat; Hence the marvel of geothermal heating systems, a growing trend amongst home-owners.
How Does It Work?
Geothermal heating systems (also known as ground source heat pumps, GSHPs, earth energy, or geoexchange systems) are an ideal way of reducing home energy costs. These systems are incredibly environmentally friendly as it uses the natural heat of the Earth with no emissions or toxicity involved.
A series of pipes are drilled down into the ground to create a circuit. Air is then pumped through the circuit using a small electric fan (so there is technically a small amount of energy used to make the system work). The circulating air goes down into the ground cool and comes up warm. This is a similar concept to building your home in a deep cave, where the air temperature is constant all year long, but without the obvious problems of living inside a cave.
They can be combined with radiators but it is thought that under-floor heating works best, as it uses a lower temperature. In the summer the system can also be used like an air conditioner to pump cool air into the house.
The same pipes can also be used to heat water for home use.
Choosing a Vertical or Horizontal System
When choosing a heating system there are four common loop systems - vertical, horizontal, slinky and pond.
A vertical closed loop field is made of up vertical pipes in the ground, in a hole usually 150 to 300 feet deep. Here the pipes are joined by a U-shaped cross connector at the bottom of the hole.
In comparison a horizontal closed loop field is composed of pipes that run horizontally in the ground and run 400 to 600 feet long, where U-shaped coils are placed horizontally inside the trench. Horizontal loop fields are very common and economical if there is plenty of adequate land available. A slinky closed loop field has pipes which overlay each other, whereas a closed pond loop is attached to a frame and located in a body of water.
The Benefits of Geothermal
GSHPs are also a great way of decreasing domestic costs such as home insurance because they help reduce building insurance premiums. Home insurance costs and contents insurance benefit from geothermal systems too because it is low maintenance as there are no hazardous gas emissions or flammable oils. There is no need for regular servicing or yearly safety checks either.
Quiet operation with no noisy outdoor units means a less disturbing atmosphere for both neighbours and the environment.
There are also government grants available for the installation of a domestic ground source heat pump. Check out what your local provincial, state or federal government is doing to see if you're eligible for a grant, tax refund and/or incentive.
However, despite all the advantages, there are problems with the product. For a horizontal system a household will need space to lay the pipe system down in trenches, and for a three bedroom house that means 2x50 metre long dugouts, therefore it is not ideal for dense suburban neighbourhoods, meaning homeowners may have to get a more expensive vertical system which requires drilling deeper.
Another problematic issue is the efficiency of a heat-pump system, which needs insulation to work, thus making under floor heating in old or badly insulated houses unpractical.
However, a major selling point of geothermal heating system is that they reduce heating and cooling costs by about 50% and usually cost between $10,000 and $20,000 USD. The heating systems are usually eligible for most state, federal and utility credits and encouragements.
The financial rebates and savings of the heating product is also rewarding for the more environmentally friendly homeowner. The rebate programme and the ensuing installation of heat pumps would cut an average four metric tons of carbon emissions per year per unit, due to high energy efficiency of geothermal heat pump technology.
“If you multiply those reductions by the average unit life of 24.4 years, that means 97.6 metric tons of emissions could be eliminated over the lifetime of each unit, and 234,240 tons over the lifetime of the 2,400 units sold through the rebate program.” - Bruce Ritchey, CEO of the geothermal heating system manufacturer WaterFurnace.
More on How Geothermal Heating Works
A geothermal heat pump moves heat into or out of the earth to heat or cool your home. The system has three main components:
- Ground loop system
- Heat pump furnace unit
- Distribution system
The ground loop system of polyethylene pipes extract heat from soil beneath the frost line. In cooling mode, the pipes return heat to the earth. There are four basic ground loop configurations.
Horizontal Closed Loop
Best for:
- Rural areas where space permits; areas where soils can be easily excavated; land with high moisture content is optimal for these systems.
Considerations:
- Requires more land area than any other loop system. The pipe is generally buried in a trench, usually 2 to 3 metres (6 to 10 feet) deep in one continuous loop or a series of parallel loops.
- Proper design is critical, since horizontal pipe lengths can vary between 91 and 914 metres (300 and 3,000 feet) of pipe per tonne of heat output.
- Rural properties of over one acre are typically best suited for horizontal configuration.
- Not recommended in dry sands and gravels.
Horizontal loop designs include one-pipe, two-pipe, four-pipe, and slinky coil configurations. The most common are two and four-pipe configurations.
Vertical Closed Loop
Best for:
- Homes with limited available land area, or where other loop configurations are not cost-effective.
- Vertical loops require fewer feet of piping than horizontal loops, since ground temperatures are more constant at a depth of about 6 metres (20 feet) or deeper.
- Vertical boreholes measure approximately 13–18 centimeters (5–7 inches) in diameter and are typically spaced 10–20 feet apart.
- A pair of 3/4–1 1/4 inch pipes are inserted in the borehole connected by a u-bend assembly on the bottom. The pipes in each of the boreholes are tied together in a trench 4–6 feet under grade.
- Proper design is essential since pipe length can vary from 91 to 183 metres (300 to 600 feet) per tonne of heat output.
- Your contractor may drill a test borehole to determine soil conditions to confirm loop length and design prior to system installation.
Well-to-Well or Open Loop
Best for:
- Homes with access to a good supply and quality of well water. Open loop systems extract heat directly from well water. Well water is pumped to the heat pump system from a supply well, and is then returned to a second well or "return well".
Considerations:
- Typically, the entering water temperature of an open loop system is approximately 6 C higher than a closed loop system. Higher entering water temperatures can lead to improved efficiency of the geothermal heat pump system.
- Water sources with high levels of salt, chlorides or other minerals can cause premature system failure or inefficient operation.
- Annual cleaning and maintenance of the heat exchanger(s) by your installation contractor in your heat pump furnace unit will be required to reduce mineral scaling.
- Pumping power may become an issue in installations that require deep supply wells.
Approvals from the appropriate environmental authorities in your area may be required.
Lake or Pond Closed Loop
Best for:
- Areas with a pond or lake nearby and poor drilling/excavation conditions, where the loop field can be submerged in water, rather than buried in the ground.
Considerations:
- Approvals from the appropriate environmental authorities in your area are required (i.e. Department of Fisheries and Oceans).
- The loop field must be:
- properly anchored to remain on the bottom of the body of water;
- submerged deep enough under water;
- protected at the shoreline to avoid being dragged away by the movement of spring ice break-up.
- Lake/pond system is an extremely specialized configuration, so important that an installation contractor has sufficient experience and understands all aspects of this type of installation