Can I Heat and Cool My Home or Business with a Ground Source Heat Pump (Geothermal)?

Ground source heat pumps (GSHP) are probably the most economical of all of the  renewable energy technologies in the market today. This is because they have the lowest payback, typically 2 to 5 years. Consider that at current fuel prices, to heat a building with natural gas would cost about twice as much as a GSHP system. To heat that same building with propane, fuel oil or electricity (resistance heating) would be three to four times as expensive. Click here to compare the cost of heating your home or business with the various fuels available to you in your particular area.

A GSHP system would normally heat the building in winter, cool the building in summer and generate a portion of the hot water, needed by the occupants, from waste heat generated within the unit. As such the manufacturers tout a 70 to 80% reduction in energy use in the heating mode, a 20% to 40% improvement in efficiency in the cooling mode and free hot water when available (while in the cooling mode).

Homes, office buildings, schools, hotels, convenience stores, state capitols, just about any type of building in any location have and can make use of the ground's stable temperature to help heat and cool your living and working environments. Even more amazing is the fact that, when designed properly, a GSHP system can integrate heating requirements in one part of the building with cooling requirements in another part of the building to contribute to a very high overall efficiency. The possibilities are incredible. But you need to design the system properly to take full advantage of these low operating costs and to keep the initial investment as low as possible.

With The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1: Div. B, Sec. 1122) the federal government has provided an incentive to install these types of systems. For:

• residential systems; beginning January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2016 may receive a 30% tax credit.
• commercial systems; beginning October 3, 2008, through December 31, 2016  may receive a 10% tax credit. In addition:

  1. Energy property  placed in service during 2008 and 2009 is eligible for a special fist year "bonus" depreciation allowance of 50% of the basis.
  2. The remaining basis is then depreciated in accordance with the 5-year MACRS schedule (unlike conventional heating and cooling systems which are usually depreciated on a 39-year straight line basis).
  3. If you miss the "bonus" depreciation allowance you will still be eligible for the 5-year MACRS schedule through 2016.

Sizing the ground heat exchanger is a complicated process. Silver State Renewables, Inc. can offer you and your heating, ventilating and air conditioning contractor state of the art expertise in this area. Our modeling capability allows us the luxury to provide dynamic transient analysis of the building energy requirements and the ground coupled heat pump system to size the components properly. In short what we do is take existing energy use data (if available), building design data, thermostat set point data and 30 year averaged hourly weather data to optimize on the best configuration of heat pump and ground heat exchanger. Since this modeling program allows us to vary the ground surface temperature with the seasons (in trenching applications) and the thermal properties of individual ground layers (in well-bore applications) we can virtually guarantee a better design. This is where the biggest potential cost savings lies also. Call or email us, with your questions, or for a quote.

In the following paragraphs you will find links to ground source heat pump manufactures and additional resources for more information. We recognize that when you click on one of these links you will leave our website and may never return. While we certainly hope you will take advantage of out services at some future date, we feel privileged to to have played some small part in helping you learn more about how you can "become more energy independent". Come back and see us when you're ready.

Who are the Manufacturers?

The ground source heat pump industry is a mature industry. Because licensed professionals must do the installation of the system, only qualified heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) contractors can install one. Currently only a small percentage of the HVAC contractors in the nation have obtained the accreditation. Most of the HVAC contractors will sell and service just one or two of the following manufacturers. Only major system manufacturers are listed below. Others may be out there also.

Where Can I Find More Information?

For accurate, up-to-date information on ground coupled heat pump technology, please contact any of the following organizations.

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