Geothermal Technology Description

Geothermal heating and cooling is the most cost-effective and efficient method of heating or cooling a home available today. Beneath your property’s frost-line, generally 4-6 feet underground, the earth’s temperature is a near-constant 55ºF. Geothermal heating and cooling systems, also known as geoexchange, can draw relatively warmer air into a home during winter months and dissipate hot air back into the earth during summer months.

A series of pipes are installed beneath the frost-line and filled with an environmentally-safe coolant fluid. A compressor pumps the fluid through the pipes, which absorbs heat from the earth or dissipates it back into the cooler ground, depending on the season. A heat pump helps to exchange heat between the geothermal coolant fluid and the temperature of the air in a circulator.  The adjusted air is circulated throughout the home through a standard radiator system, regulating the home’s internal temperature as the owner desires.

The pipes used in geoexchange systems are termed “loops.” Two types of loops are available: closed and open. Closed loops are the most commonly used type and route a continuous stream of coolant through the pipes. Open loop systems use water from a surface or underground source in place of a coolant and water mixture. In an open loop system, water is routed back to the source or to a return well after having its heat extracted at the heat pump.

(Images provided by Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium)

Valyceum Estates Office: 585-777-4116 | Fax: 585-777-4108
250 Mill Street, Suite 500
Rochester, NY 14614
contact@valyceum.com

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