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How Geoexchange Systems Work A good way to conceptualize how geoexchange systems work (and why they are more efficient than traditional HVAC systems) is to think of an air conditioning unit. The unit blows cool air inside and warm air outside—the heat from inside is moved outside. The problem with this is that air does not absorb heat very efficiently, and cooling a little bit of inside air means heating a lot of outside air. In geoexchange systems, the heat from the inside air is transferred to the ground, which absorbs much more heat at a much faster rate than air. Thus, cooling a little air inside means heating a very little bit of ground outside. Think about when you bake something and remove it from the oven—the hot air doesn’t burn your hand, even though it is several-hundred degrees Fahrenheit. But when you walk on a hot beach, the sand may burn your feet. Yet the sand is nowhere near the temperature of the air inside the oven. This is because air is much less efficient than sand at transferring heat. When a geoexchange system is used for heating inside air, the process is reversed, and the ground outside is cooled. Similarly, a geoexchange system can be used to heat water, which can provide additional energy efficiency to you home or business. For further details, read our expanded explanation of how geoexchange systems work. Additionally, howstuffworks.com has a good article with diagrams, animations, and videos to help explain the process. |