Q: What is a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)?
A: A “ground-source” or geothermal heat pump is an electrically powered device that uses the natural heat storage of the earth to heat and cool a residential or commercial building.

Q: How does the pump function?
A: Like any type of heat pump, it simply moves heat energy from one place to another. The geothermal heat pump removes heat energy stored in the earth and transfers it to the home or business.

Q: How is heat transferred between the earth and the home or business?
A: The earth has the ability to absorb and store heat energy. To use that stored energy, heat is extracted from the earth through water and is pumped to the heat pump heat exchanger. There, the heat is used to heat your home or business. In summer the process is reversed and indoor heat is extracted from your home and transferred to the earth through the liquid.

Q: Does the heat pump perform both heating and cooling functions?
A: Yes. One of the things that make a heat pump so flexible is its ability to be a heating and cooling system in one. You can change from one mode to another with a simple flip of a switch on your indoor thermostat. Plus, a geothermal heat pump can assist in heating water year-round.

Q: Is a separate ground loop required for heating and cooling?
A: No. The same loop works for both. All that happens when changing from heating to cooling, or vice versa, is that the flow of heat is reversed inside the unit.

Q: What types of loops are available?
A: The main types are open, closed, vertical, horizontal and pond/lake. Geothermal Energy Systems specializes in vertical and pond/lake closed loop systems.

Q: Does the underground pipe system really work?
A: The buried pipe, or “ground loop,” is the biggest technical advancement in heat pump technology to date. The idea to bury pipe in the ground to gather heat energy began in the 1940s. But it’s only been in the last 25 years that new heat pump designs and improved pipe materials have been combined to make geothermal heat pumps the most efficient heating and cooling systems available.