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Geothermal heating and cooling is a new concept to many, which is why we’ve compiled this beginner’s guide. Consider it a quick-start to geothermal and how it works in a residential setting.
With geothermal, you stand to save money, have more consistent heating and cooling, and improve the overall comfort in your home. If you’re curious about geothermal heating and cooling in Sussex County, DE, here’s what you need to know.
You’re interested in installing new air conditioning in Middletown, DE for your home, but you wonder if you have better options than the conventional central AC you’ve used for many years. The answer is “yes,” although determining if any of these alternatives is the right one for your home is something you’ll want to consult HVAC experts on.
Below we’ve listed the three most common alternatives to the typical central AC system, i.e. a split system with an outdoor condenser and indoor evaporator and blower connected to ductwork. Each alternative has benefits and drawbacks, and our technicians can help you navigate to the best option.
Most of us are used to centralized air conditioners and forced-air furnaces in our home. They generate cool air or hot air in a single locale and then blow it through your home via a system of ducts. They’re efficient and inexpensive, but they’re not the only type of HVAC system out there, and depending on your home, an alternative model might be a batter fit for you. The autumn makes an excellent time to assess the state of your HVAC system. If it’s older and you don’t think it will last another year, now might be an excellent time to consider an alternative form of heating and/or cooling. We’ve provided a short list of alternative options below for you to peruse.
With summer here and the need for a new air conditioner all the more prevalent than ever, this is a good time to discuss alternative options. Most of us are accustomed to traditional centralized models, but they’re not the only models out there, and depending upon the circumstances, you might do better exploring one of them. If your old air conditioner needs to be put out to pasture, the new one doesn’t need to be exactly like the old one.
Here in Dover, DE, we kind of get the worst of both ends on the heating and cooling spectrum, with hot, muggy summers and freezing cold winters. The solution to that dilemma may be a geothermal system, which draws upon the ambient power of the earth itself to warm and cool your home. There’s an initial up-front cost to such a system, but the long-term savings and overall efficiency often make the purchase worth it. Here’s a breakdown of how it all works: to show why geothermal systems may be just what your home needs.
Geothermal heating and cooling is an ingenious way to keep your house comfortable, and a fascinating alternative to traditional forced-air systems. It cost a fair amount up front and requires certain features on your property (a lot of square footage, for example, or the presence of a pond). But once installed, it provides numerous benefits that will make your life a great deal easier, as well as providing considerable savings in the long run. Those aren’t small concerns here in Dover, DE, where summers are hot and muggy and winters are very cold. So why should you use geothermal heating and cooling? We’ve provided a short list of the benefits.
During the summer, the largest share of electrical power in your home goes straight to the air conditioning system to keep the rooms cool. Over only a single season, the costs to remain comfortable in your home using the AC can run quite high.
There are many ways to cut down on your air conditioning bills. One of the best long-term solutions is to install a geothermal cooling system as a replacement for your current AC. This will lower your bills, but also offer numerous other advantages that make this an appealing change—even with the large amount of work required for the installation.
However, you don’t need to worry about the intensive labor involved, because Atlantic Refrigeration can handle that when it comes to geothermal cooling in Dover, DE. Here are some of the reasons we think you should contact us to learn more about geothermal power for your home:
The first important thing to understand about a geothermal system is that it is actually a heat pump, and that means it can provide heating as well as cooling. Like all heat pumps, a geothermal (or “ground-source”) heat pump moves heat from one location and deposits it in another. A geothermal heat pump can remove heat from indoors and place it in the ground, cooling your home, or it can move the heat from the ground and bring it indoors for warmth.
The secret to the lower costs of geothermal cooling is that the heat pump uses the stable temperature of the earth 6–10 feet under the frost line for its heat exchange. No matter how hot it grows outside, the heat pump always has a cool place to deposit heat from inside you home. A geothermal system works even more efficiently during cold weather, when standard heat pumps (“air-source” heat pumps) will suffer drops in efficiency. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that geothermal heat pumps work 3–6 times more efficiently than air-source models.
There are few home comfort systems that will last as long once installed as a geothermal heat pump. The ground loops can endure more than 50 years, with only minimal repairs and easy regular maintenance. This means you will have many years to enjoy the savings from the geothermal heat pump past the initial payback period.
There is one caution with geothermal systems, which is that they will not work in every location and climate. For the loops to effectively draw and deposit heat, they must have sufficient space and depth, and small properties may not offer enough.
It is easy to find out if your house and property are suited to geothermal installation. Rely on us for the installation work for whatever cooling system you decide on.
Call the Dover, DE geothermal cooling experts at Atlantic Refrigeration, and we will send a professional to your house to survey the possibilities.
