Rapid Rise Predicted for Geothermal Home Heating
Posted by admin on
March 17, 2010
Geothermal Home Heating is experiencing a rapid rise in popularity on the back of government incentives aimed at shifting consumers reliance on fossil fuels. Geothermal heating has been rated as the most efficient and environmentally friendly form of heating and its uses are now being used in residential and commercial applications.
As government and industry develop new ways to tackle the problem of global warming a popular shift toward geothermal home heating is playing its part in reducing carbon emissions.
Geothermal energy has enjoyed an alarming surge in popularity on the back of government investment in alternative energy.
Geothermal energy has been rated as the most efficient and environmentally friendly alternative energy by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Geothermal energy involves using heat stored beneath the surface of the earth either for direct use in home heating or to produce electricity.
The heat in the earth exists due to a radioactive decay of minerals at the centre of the earth where the temperature is as high as 6000 degrees Celsius and also from solar absorption. The earth absorbs almost 50 per cent of all solar energy which can then be used for direct heating purposes.
Geothermal home heating uses the heat stored just below the earth to provide cost effective, environmentally friendly and efficient heat. Users can save up to 60 per cent on their electricity bills.
Geothermal home heating was first developed in the 1940s where a rudimentary setup was deployed to transfer heat stored below the surface of the earth into buildings.
Since then advances in technology have ensured geothermal home heating is a smart and effective source of heating.
The most popular form of geothermal home heating is called a horizontal closed loop system where sections of pipe are laid at a depth of approximately one metre underground. A circulating fluid carries heat from the earth into a heat pump to be dispensed in the premises.
Because the earth has a fairly constant temperature geothermal home heating needs only to heat the source fluid by as little as five to ten degrees compared to an air based heat pump that may have to increase the outside source air by as much as twenty degrees or more.
Geothermal home heating has gained popularity on the back of a push by industry and government to educate consumers on the benefits of geothermal energy combined with rebates and incentives available in developed nations.
It is predicted that geothermal home heating will double in the next six years.
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