Geothermal Heating and Cooling…the Wave of the Future Available Now

The energy costs associated with heating and cooling your NW DC home can be high during peak seasons. Whether it is heating your home in the winter or running the air conditioning throughout the summer, the energy used associated with it can bring shock and awe to some homeowners. Obviously, the larger the home, the bigger the heating and cooling expenses and you may wonder how best to reduce that expense. If so, have you thought about the advantages of geothermal heating and cooling?

We are currently constructing a new, luxury home on Galena Place in NW Washington, DC, which includes a geothermal heating and cooling system. We know many homeowners have questions about this type of system, and since it requires a rather specialized area of expertise to install, let’s take this opportunity to discuss it.

Geothermal energy is one of the least expensive renewable energy sources available on the market today. While geothermal energy can be used to produce electricity, that is a different system than those that are used to heat and cool your home.

Geothermal energy is taken from the earth using the heat exchange process with geothermal heat pumps. Since the temperature of the earth is pretty constant (below the freezing depth obviously), a heat pump can extract heat or cold as needed to adjust the temperature of your home.

Don’t worry about the expense of running the heat pump, as the energy used in the extraction process is a mere fraction of the energy output — making it a wise investment for your Georgetown DC home. Geothermal energy is available everyone, around-the-clock, regardless of weather conditions, making it more reliable than other types of renewable energy sources. As long as your home has electricity, your geothermal heat pump will work properly.

But how does it work? To extract geothermal energy from the earth, a geothermal heat pump is used by pumping a special fluid through the ground heat exchange cables below the ground. The cables are typically an average of seven feet below the surface, or deeper if necessary.  After the liquid returns to the geothermal heat pump and circulates once again, the ground source energy is taken from it by using the difference between the temperature of the ground and your desired temperature.

If you are ready to learn more about geothermal heating and cooling for your new, luxury custom home, give us a call. We are here to help and can walk you through the process step-by-step.