Benefits of Geothermal Heat Pumps

Hey, this is Derek Cole with one hour Heating Air. And today we have with us Steve Cole and he is the expert on geothermal heat pumps. Today we're talking all about energy. So the most energy efficient way to heat and cool your home is by geothermal, correct?

Correct.

So geothermal is kind of misunderstood out there a little bit and we get a lot of questions on it. So kind of go into what Geothermal.

For the standard heat pump, you have an outdoor unit for a reason. The unit's outside so it can use the outdoor ambient temperature. So when you're trying to cool your house, you're extracting heat out of your house and rejecting it to the outdoor air. So when you HEAR the word 3 ton unit at 3 tons means 3 ton at 95 degree outdoor temp.

Right.

So when that temperature is above 95 degrees, you don't have 3 ton capacity anymore. And then on the heating side, you know you're trying to absorb heat from the outside. So the colder it is outdoors, the less heat you get. So with a conventional system, the more you need it, the less you have.

So what is different about geothermal compared to that?

Geothermal. We're using the earth's temperature. In this area of the Carolinas we have a lot of open loop systems. The earth's temperature is between 56 and 60 degrees. Between 85 and 100 foot, we use an 85 to 100 foot deep well. And at water temp on the hottest day of the year, we're cooling our house using 60 degree water. On the coldest day of the year, we're heating your house using 56 degree water. Tremendous amount of difference in temperature.

So on a 95 degree day, which is very common around here. So now we're trying to cool a.

Home with 60, you're looking at 59, 60 degree water. That three ton geothermal unit, because we have great temperatures in this area, United States is actually giving you right at three and a half tons capacity.

Amazing. So that's how you're saving so much energy on it. Now when we rate systems for a conventional heat pump, we talk about sear rating. So geothermal goes on something different. It's called eer. Now what exactly is.

Yeah, even a unit with a sear rating has an EER rating. EER is a commercial rating. That's what engineers want to see. It's done at set temperature of 85 degrees, the testing. So nobody can play with the numbers. So an EER rating is very accurate. A 14 SEER unit is going to be somewhere around 10 EER. Our top of the line geothermal unit is at 54 EER.

Wow.

And that's like miles per gallon. And another big thing with the geothermal technology today we have true variable speed. 95% of people in the United States have a single speed unit. Can you imagine your automobile having just one button you push to go? You couldn't control how fast your engine's going. Well, you have an accelerator, you can accelerate the same with your geothermal heat pump. It has 12 stages of heat and up to 12 stages of cooling. Tremendous amount of control and dehumidification.

So let's talk about cost.

It's the biggest no brainer on earth. How many times the government pay you to put something in your house? That's how efficient this is. That's how much energy it's going to save the United States of America.

And the reason they're doing that is because a report came out recently that said that renewable energy was the most. It overtook fossil fuels on how much is around the world. And the same way with geothermal, they want you to be more efficient, so therefore they're paying you some tax credits to get it done.

Yeah, because most people save up to 70% of their cost of heating and cooling with a geothermal unit. Wow.

Unbelievable, guys. For more information and thank you, Steve, for being here. More information, give us a call 910-534-4462 or visit us online at onehouraircarolinas. Com.