When choosing a heating and air conditioning system for your home, there are a variety of equipment options available depending upon your home and location, but your needs and expectations are the most important factors when deciding what type of system will keep you and your family the most comfortable in the coming years.

(Of course, if you're thinking about replacing your system or trying to decide on a system for a new house, our Comfort Advisors are available to meet with you, discuss your needs and expectations and design a system specifically for you and your home.)

Geothermal - or ground source - heat pumps are electrically powered systems that tap the earth’s relatively constant temperature (about 55° F year-round) to provide heating and cooling for a home.

Instead of using outside air at freezing temperatures to warm your home in the winter and outside air in the 80’s and 90’s to cool your home in the summer like a conventional heat pump, the geothermal uses ground-insulated water held in and moved through an underground “loop” near your house. And because it utilizes this temperate water instead of hot or cold air to maintain your indoor comfort, it operates much more efficiently than a standard heat pump: 50 to 70% more efficiently during heating and 20 to 40% during the cooling mode, according to the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association. Most of a geothermal system is installed underground, but inside the house, the heat pump units are about the same size as a traditional heating and cooling unit.  Geothermals don't have an outdoor unit, like a traditional heat pump, so there are no noisy fans to disturb outdoor activities or neighbors.

There are 3 basic types of closed loop geothermal installation, depending on your climate, soil conditions, available land and installation costs:
 

	Horizontal: usually most cost-effective for residential new construction, it requires a trench 4 feet deep.
	Vertical: often used on large commercial applications or where land is at a minimum and/or the soil is shallow.
	Water Body: this may be the lowest cost option if the water source meets minimum volume, depth, and quality criteria.