Geothermal heating and cooling
TIRED OF RISING HEATING AND COOLING COSTS?
GEOTHERMAL heating and cooling may be the answer. Geothermal systems have improved over the last number of years to be an efficient heating and cooling system for your home.
The Township has two large buildings that use geothermal systems for heating and cooling. I have used one in my home for over 12 years and am thrilled with the decision I made to install the system.
The basic part of the system is a closed loop system that is installed in the ground to take advantage of the approximate 54-degree constant ground temperature. The closed loop is environmentally safe and typically guaranteed for 50 years! That loop provides liquid to a compressor system (water furnace) that uses that liquid to produce either heating or cooling and also can be used to preheat your domestic hot water, for a lower water heating cost.
The higher initial installation cost, due to the ground loop, starts to see a payback immediately in lower energy costs, also there is no oil or gas costs and the concern for delivery of the fossil fuels.
These are a few of the benefits that I have seen in having a geothermal system in my home:
NO use of fossil fuels.
NO noise from an outside condenser that is part of air conditioning your home.
NO fire in a furnace in the basement and no danger of carbon monoxide poisoning if there is a chimney failure.
Lower energy costs to provide heating and air conditioning.
Cleaner home due to no burning of fossil fuels.
More even heat and air conditioning as the geothermal system uses less variation in temperature between cycles.
No dependence on oil or gas delivery and the constant change in pricing.
More space in the basement due to removal of the oil storage tank.
Preheating of hot water for domestic use thereby causing additional saving from the cost of heating water for domestic use.
Quiet operation of the system unlike the noise from the ignition of fossil fuel appliances.
If you have questions or need explanation of my experience with geothermal you can leave a question with Township staff to forward to me or contact your HVAC contractor who has had experience with the installation of geothermal systems. We must use systems like this to protect our environment and also see a benefit to our home budget!
Jack M Hines, Chairman Board of Supervisors