Recently, many inquisitive Atlanta residents have asked GeoSaves, Inc. about geothermal. Sure, geothermal heat pumps use the earth to condition your home... but how do they do it?
This fascinating system works thanks to one simple principle: Given the opportunity, heat flows towards areas that are cooler. That's why an ice cube melts and it's the mechanism behind a geothermal heat pump. Here's how geothermal works
:
Combustion is not the source of heat in a geothermal system. It simply collects and moves it using the principle stated above. In order to
carry heat energy from one major component of the system to another, a special liquid called refrigerant is used. The refrigerant is
pumped throughout the system by a powerful centrifugal pump called a compressor.
During the summer, a blower circulates warm indoor air through your home's duct system. The air is eventually forced across a series of
metal pipes and thin fins called an air coil. The air coil houses cold refrigerant and naturally absorbs the unwanted heat from your air. The
refrigerant carries that heat into the compressor where it's put under an immense degree of pressure. When refrigerant is put under pressure, its
molecules are concentrated and collide more often - making it extremely hot.
Next, the hot refrigerant is pumped through a copper tube-within-a-tube called the coaxial coil. The inner tube contains water circulating from
underground pipes (called a loop), while the outer tube contains refrigerant. The refrigerant passes its heat through the wall of the coil and warms
the loop water. A loop pump circulates the warmed water back underground where the heat that began in your home is deposited into the earth. At the
same time, the refrigerant in the coaxial coil is pumped through an area of low pressure called an expansion valve. The decreased pressure allows the
refrigerant to expand rapidly. When refrigerant expands, its molecules get farther apart and collide less often - making it very cold. The cold
refrigerant is now ready to be circulated back to the air coil, where the process can begin again.
To heat your home, the system literally reverses the entire process using a reversing valve. Refrigerant flows in the opposite direction and order of components.
GeoSaves, Inc. hopes this information has been helpful in your decision to install an energy-saving geothermal system. We install one of the most efficient geothermal heat pumps on the market; WaterFurnace. We serve all of Atlanta and the surrounding areas. Contact us today.