At Clarksburg Contractors, we are passionate about renewable energy, and we want to help more people build new homes that draw power from renewable sources—or help them convert their existing homes to do the same. One way we do this is by installing geothermal systems that generate power using the heat in the earth’s crust. In this article, we’ll provide a brief overview of how this form of green energy works so that you can decide if geothermal systems are right for your home.
Geothermal Energy
To understand how geothermal systems work, you first need to understand geothermal energy. Essentially, geothermal energy is ambient heat that is present in the ground and the Earth’s crust—regardless of the air temperature or climate conditions, the underground temperature will remain about 12-13° C at all times. Geothermal systems are built to take advantage of this fact and put that heat energy to use.
Geothermal Systems
A geothermal system consists of a large loop of pipes that is buried underground, and these pipes are filled with a mixture of water and environmentally friendly antifreeze. This solution then acts as a heat exchanger—in the winter, the solution absorbs heat from the earth and then brings it inside your home where it can warm the air. Then, in the summer, this process works in reverse: the antifreeze solution in the pipes absorbs heat from the interior of your home and then releases that heat into the soil to produce a cooling effect on the inside of the building.