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Types of geothermal systems:
  • Closed loop,loops of pipe buried at a depth of 6 ft. (2m) or greater in the ground. Pipes are placed horizontally or in deep vertically drilled holes often 200ft (60m) or greater.

  • Open Loop, Pipes drawing water from a nearby body of water or water well.


In a closed system, water and antifreeze (or other transfer fluid) is circulated through the heat exchanger (heat pump) and back out through the loops continuously. In an open loop system, water is drawn from depth in a deep well system or from a body of water in a shallow system. Once this water passes through the heat pump, it is released back to its source, generally as far from the intake as possible. Some closed loop systems bleed off a portion of their working fluid to keep the source temperature stable.

Geothermal heating is one of the most efficient ways to heat a building, but it has high initial costs for Drilling the wells deep enough into the earth to take advantage of the earth's temperature. It also has ongoing costs for the electricity to power the pump and heat pump compressor. Geothermal heating is much more efficient than air heat pumps and other supplemental electric heat used in warmer climates. It has the added benefit in that it requires no burning of fossil fuels at the heating site in comparison to natural gas or heating oil fired furnaces. Geothermal cooling is much more efficient than traditional air conditioning units since it is exchanging heat with ground temperatures.


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