Geothermal heating uses natural thermal energy from the earth’s crust to heat water and rooms. Hot spots like Iceland can use geothermal energy for heating, while regions without hot spots can use a ground source heat pump. Geothermal heating is environmentally friendly and financially advantageous, but installation can be expensive and requires knowledge of the site’s geology.
Geothermal heating uses natural thermal energy from within the earth’s crust to heat water and rooms. This heating method is acclaimed for its energy efficiency, lack of pollution and financial advantages. Areas like Iceland with abundant geothermal sources, called hot spots, can freely use energy for heating. Regions without hot spots can also get geothermal heating, however, by using a ground source heat pump.
Originally, heat within the Earth was created during planet formation by meteor impact energy and compressive heat. Today, compressive heat at the Earth’s core and decay of radioactive materials in the Earth’s mantle continue to generate heat. Hot spots, where the Earth’s surface has denser pockets of heat, occur when magma is closest to the surface and are usually marked by volcanoes.
A prime example of a hot spot, Iceland has installed geothermal power plants to turn heat into electricity and uses district heating to heat water and space in most buildings. Geothermal district heating takes heat from the hot spot site and distributes hot water or steam through insulated pipes to buildings. A form of this method has been used since the Roman Empire, which used geothermal heat in its baths and some buildings.
For geothermal heating to be possible in areas that lack the benefits of a hot spot, a pump must be used. Most places on Earth maintain a temperature of fifty to fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit (50-54°F, 0-12°C) below the surface, regardless of the weather above. A ground source heat pump uses this constant temperature to conduct space heating and cooling and water in a building, typically a residence.
A series of pipes is installed in a loop under the house and the cooled water is pumped out. As it passes through the ground, the water conducts the heat, which is then re-extracted into a heat exchanger under the house. The heat that the exchanger extracts from the water and the heat created as a byproduct of the exchanger’s work is used to heat the home. When the circuit is reversed and heated water is pumped through the ground to lose heat to the relatively cooler ground, the system can be used to cool the home. Geothermal heating uses much less energy than electric heating and cooling or an air source heat pump.
Geothermal heating is celebrated for several environmental and financial reasons. This method of heating draws energy from a renewable source and creates less pollution common to burning fossil fuels. Financially, geothermal heating systems require less maintenance, last for decades, increase the value of a building, and reduce costs that typically accumulate in monthly oil or electricity bills. The initial installation of the system, however, can be very expensive and requires adequate knowledge of the geology of the site so that groundwater is not contaminated and soil integrity is not damaged. Ground source heat pumps also require electricity to run the pumps, which often require burning fossil fuels, and can employ a toxic refrigerant in the water that flows through the pipes.
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