WaterFurnace Geothermal Options

WaterFurnace geothermal heating and cooling systems use the clean, renewable energy in your back yard to save homeowners up to 70% on heating, cooling and hot water. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy call it “the most cost-effective, energy efficient and environmentally friendly method” of heating and cooling your home available today. This booklet will help explain how WaterFurnace can accomplish all this – and how you can reduce your utility bills today and for many years to come.

GEOTHERMAL BASICS

How does a geothermal heating and cooling system work? Outdoor temperatures fluctuate with the changing seasons but underground temperatures don’t. Four to six feet below the earth’s surface, temperatures remain relatively constant year-round. A geothermal system capitalizes on these constant temperatures to provide “free” energy. In winter, a series of fluid-filled underground pipes called a “loop” absorbs stored heat and carries it indoors. The indoor unit compresses the heat to a higher temperature and distributes it throughout the building. In summer, the system reverses, pulling heat from the building, carrying it through the earth loop and depositing it in the cooler earth.

WHAT MAKES A GEOTHERMAL SYSTEM DIFFERENT FROM ORDINARY SYSTEMS?

Unlike ordinary systems, geothermal systems don’t burn fossil fuel to generate heat; they simply transfer heat to and from the earth to provide a more efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly method of heating and cooling. Typically, only a small amount of electricity is used to operate the unit’s fan, compressor and pump.

WHAT ARE THE COMPONENTS OF A GEOTHERMAL SYSTEM?

The three main parts consist of the geothermal unit, the underground piping system (open or closed loop), and the ductwork.

HOW EFFICIENT IS A GEOTHERMAL SYSTEM?

A geothermal system is over five times more efficient in heating and more than twice as efficient in cooling as the most efficient ordinary system. Because geothermal systems move existing heat rather than creating it through combustion, they provide four to five units of energy for every one unit used to power the system.

HOW IS EFFICIENCY RATED FOR GEOTHERMAL?

All heating and cooling systems have a rated efficiency from a U.S. governmental agency. Fossil fuel furnaces use AFUE. Air conditioners use SEER while heat pumps use HSPF and SEER.

Geothermal heat pumps rate heating efficiencies according to their coefficient of performance or COP. It’s a scientific way of determining how much energy the system produces versus how much it uses. Most geothermal heat pump systems have COPs of 3-4.5. The WaterFurnace 7 Series 700A11 holds certified performances of 5.6 COP in an open loop and 5.1 in a closed loop. That means for every dollar of energy used to power the system, $5.6 or $5.10 of energy are supplied as heat. Where a fossil fuel furnace may be 78-98% efficient, a geothermal heat pump is over 500% efficient.

GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMPS

WHAT DOES GEOTHERMAL MEAN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?

Geothermal systems work with nature, not against it. They emit no greenhouse gases – which have been linked to pollution, acid rain and other environmental hazards. WaterFurnace’s earth-loop antifreeze will not harm the environment in the unlikely event of a leak. And all of the current WaterFurnace product lines use R-410A or R134a, both of which are performance-enhancing refrigerants that will not harm the earth’s ozone layer.

ARE ALL GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMPS ALIKE?

No. There are different kinds of geothermal heat pumps designed for specific applications. Many geothermal heat pumps, for example, are intended for use only with higher temperature ground water encountered in open-loop systems. Others will operate at entering water temperatures as low as 25°F, which are possible in closed-loop systems. Most geothermal heat pumps provide summer air conditioning, but a few brands are designed only for winter heating. Geothermal heat pumps also can differ in the way they are designed. Self-contained units combine the blower, compressor, heat exchanger and coil in a single cabinet. Split systems (such as the WaterFurnace Envision Series Split) allow the coil to be added to a forced-air furnace and utilize the existing blower.

HOW DOES A GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMP WORK?

Heat pumps don’t create heat. They take existing heat and move it. Anyone with a refrigerator has witnessed the operation of a heat pump. Refrigerators collect heat from the unit’s interior and move it to the exterior for cooling purposes. Unlike a refrigerator, a heat pump can reverse itself. An air-source heat pump, for example, can extract heat from outdoor air and pump it indoors for heating purposes.