As an alternative to traditional forced air heating and cooling, we at Carter’s are doing more and more projects that involve geothermal systems (also known as heat pumps). Though we often see owners of large homes or commercial properties inquiring about geothermal systems, they can be a good fit for any size of home or commercial building.
One of our recent geothermal projects was at a residence in Plattsmouth. If you aren’t familiar with the inner workings of a geothermal system, it involves burying a high density polyethylene ground loop under the frost line of a home or building. The loop is filled with a water and antifreeze solution and is connected to the heat pump. The pump cycles the water through the pipe loop to the geothermal unit, which acts as a furnace and an air conditioner. It uses refrigerant and the temperate water from the underground pipes to heat or cool the air, which is circulated through standard ductwork.
As you can see from this picture, the home we were working on was quite large at 22,000 square feet, and it made perfect sense for them to install a geothermal system to save on energy costs and to ensure more even heating and cooling throughout the home.
In addition to the geothermal heating and cooling, we also installed in-floor heating, which was connected to the boilers. The entire system will work together to provide a comfortable and cozy environment throughout the home.
The units, once inside the home, look quite similar to your traditional heating and/or cooling system.
Again, this was a relatively easy project because there was plenty of land around the home to install the underground loops and because we were able to get in during the construction phase. However, we have also installed geothermal systems on existing homes (usually called retrofitting) and we have also taken care of project where there is not enough room to install the pipes horizontally. In this case, we can look into vertical installment which may cost a bit more, but still provides value in the long run.
We look forward to speaking with the family after the home is finished and see how they enjoy their geothermal system! If you have any questions about geothermal and whether it might be a good fit for you, please give us a call.