We’ve talked about using a geothermal heat pump to keep you toasty warm in the winter but what about the summer? This eco-friendly heat source can also keep you cool. Geothermal pumps are amazing feats of engineering and they use the earth’s natural heat to your advantage. Summer is here and now is the time to talk about how a geothermal heat pump can cool your home. King’s Water Wells explains below how these pumps work in hot weather to cool your indoor temperature.
Let’s Talk About Heat Mode First
To understand better how a geothermal heat pump will cool your home in the summer we need to talk about how it heats your home in the winter. Even though the temperatures above ground can change drastically from season to season, the earth’s temperature below ground stays the same. There isn’t much fluctuation between ground temperature when you dig several feet under the surface.
Geothermal heating pumps use the ground’s consistent temperature to heat your home. These pumps use what’s called an “earth loop” to draw air from your home, push it through the system underground, heat the air with the earth’s temperature, and then blow the hot air through your home’s ventilation system, whether air duct, hot water, or radiant floor. Instead of using expensive electricity or gas to warm the air, a geothermal pump uses the natural heat found in the ground.
Got it! But How Does it Cool My Home Then?
When the summer’s heat hits, a geothermal pump is switched to cooling mode. This reverses the system’s direction. Rather than run the air through the ground to pull heat from the earth to increase its temperature, the system pulls the heat already existing in the air in your home to remove it. It then takes this air and pumps it underground via the earth loop or uses the heat for other household needs such as warm water. A traditional AC does much of the same. It pulls hot air out of the air to cool it.
We don’t get much higher than 82 degrees Fahrenheit in Rockford, MI, in the summer, which means your indoor air can be easily cooled using a geothermal heat pump. As the pump draws the hot air out of the home, you can set up fans and install ceiling fans to circulate the cooler air. Most people find this keeps the home quite comfortable, even in July and August. This also saves you money on your electric bill, as you won’t be running a central or window air conditioning unit.
For more information on geothermal heating and air conditioning, call Kings Water Wells. We are Rockford, MI, geothermal and water well experts, so call us today.