Geothermal Heating And Cooling Information

How do geothermal heat pumps work?

Geothermal heat pumps simply transfer energy, in the form of heat, between your home and the earth. 10 feet below the surface of the earth in Minnesota the temperature is 47 degrees consistently throughout the year. In the basement of your home we install the geothermal heat pump that ties into your existing heating and cooling system and circulates water through the piping that is buried deep underground. During the summer the heat pump extracts heat from inside of the house using the existing air conditioning system and stores it in the earth through the underground piping. During the winter the process reverses. The geothermal heat pump extracts the heat from the earth and transfers it into your existing heating system (furnace or boiler).

What is the technical geothermal heat pump process?

The heat pump moves heat from a low temperature source to a high temperature source. The process of elevating low temperature heat to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and transferring it indoors involves a cycle of evaporation, compression, condensation and expansion. A refrigerant is used as the heat transfer medium which circulates within the heat pump. The cycle geotops as the cold liquid refrigerant passes through a heat exchanger (evaporator) and absorbs heat from the low temperature source (liquid from the ground loop). The refrigerant evaporates into a gas as heat is absorbed. The gaseous refrigerant then passes through a compressor where the refrigerant is pressurized, raising its temperature to over 160 F. The hot gas then circulates through a refrigerant-to-air heat exchanger where heat is removed and pumped into the home at about 100 F. The refrigerant changes back to a liquid when it uses its heat. The liquid is cooled as it passes through an expansion valve and begins the process again. To air condition, the flow is reversed.

How is installing a geothermal heat pump in an existing home different than new construction?

I have a small yard; can I install a geothermal heat pump?

We are used to making geothermal work on small city lots. Often times we have found solutions for homes that other contractors said were not possible. We like to tell customers that if you can find a space big enough to park a car on, we can give you geothermal.

Is it going to tear up my whole yard?

We normally tell customers that we are going to make a big mess in a small area. Thanks to directional boring technology we can drill your vertical wells anywhere on your property and then connect them to your mechanical room by boring horizontally from the vertical wells under your lawn and pop up into your mechanical room. We work with the customer to find an area on their property that works good for drilling the geothermal wells and is convenient for the homeowner.

Do the costs to repair the landscaping qualify for the tax credit?

Yes, but we always recommend that you verify any government incentive with your tax preparer.

How much can I expect to save?

Before we begin any geothermal project we give the homeowner reasonable expectations of what their savings will be. There are 3 main factors that determine cost savings; the type of you’re you are currently using to heat your home, the cost of electricity to operate the geothermal heat pump, and how large the current utility bill is. Many consumers have heard claims of savings up to 75 or 80%. These numbers usually come from homes that were being heated with propane, fuel oil, or with electric resistance, prior to the geothermal installion. Most of the homes in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area use natural gas to heat their home. In a home with a natural gas furnace or boiler it is reasonable to estimate a reduction in the cost to heat and cool their home of 50%.

How long does it take to install?

It for an average three bedroom house it normally takes a week to do all of the work in the mechanical room and another week to perform all of work outside of the house.

Can you install it all year round?

All of the work inside of the house can be installed year round; the outside work normally geotops in early April and goes into November.

What is the warranty of Bryant systems installed by Uptown Heating Cooling and Renewable Energy?

Residential Installations:
2 years – parts
5 years – refrigeration components
Lifetime – heat exchanger

Commercial Installations:
1 year – parts
5 years – refrigeration components

Is it true that geothermal heat pump systems have the lowest impact on the environment?

Yes. Heat pumps have a very low impact on the environment. Heat pumps only move heat from one place to another and consume only a small fraction of energy that is generated.

How long will a geothermal system last?

Independent tests show a useful life span of over 200 years. All of the underground piping is a high-density polyethylene pipe and has a 50-year warranty. All of the underground piping is joined with a special process called heat fusion. Heat fusion connections are stronger than the pipe itself.

What is the fluid used in the pipes?

We use a propylene glycol antifreeze solution. This heat transferring solution is mixed with water to protect the system from freezing. Propylene glycol is environmentally friendly and pet safe.

Will this system add value to my home?

Yes, geothermal heating and cooling systems add significant value to home.

How do you normally size a geothermal system for an existing home?

Yes, Heat pumps can provide 100 percent of your heating and cooling requirements, but it is normally not very cost effective to try to cover 100% of your heating needs in Minnesota. If you try to cover 100% of your heating needs in Minnesota, you have to build a system large enough to meet your heating needs when the temperature drops to -12degrees, even though we average less than ?? number of hours per year at that temperature or below. We normally recommend sizing a system to covering about 75-90% of your heating load with Geo and the rest of it we cover with a natural gas back-up. Having a natural gas back up allows you to qualify for a “Dual-Fuel” electrical rate from the utility companies that’s normally 50% of that standard rate.

What sort of electrical upgrades are necessary when installing a geothermal heat pump?

Normally, we recommend installing a separate “dual fuel” electrical meter. This meter allows the homeowner to qualify for special utility rate discounts. These discounts are normally around 50% of the standard rate, so the savings are significant. The cost of the meter is normally recouped in the first year of savings.