Geothermal/ Geoexchange technology uses the earth's renewable energy, just below the surface, to heat or cool a home or other building, and to help provide hot water.
A few feet beneath the surface, the earth's temperature remains fairly constant ranging from 45ºF or so in Canada's northern latitudes to about 70ºF in the US Deep South -year round. Geoexchange takes advantage of this constant temperature to provide extremely efficient heating and cooling.
In the winter, water circulating through pipes buried in the ground absorbs heat from the earth and carries it into the home. The Geoexchange system inside the home uses a heat pump to concentrate the earth's thermal energy and then to transfer it to air circulated through standard ductwork to fill the interior space with warmth.
In the summer, the process is reversed: heat is extracted from the air in the house and transferred through the heat pump to the ground loop piping. The water in the ground loop then carries the excess heat back to the earth. The only external energy needed for Geoexchange is the small amount of electricity needed to operate the ground loop pump and fan. It is more efficient and environmentally superior to 'transfer' heat than to 'create' it through combustion.