Hallie and I saw an unusual construction truck while we were on the way to her school yesterday. A large F150 pickup truck was pulling a long trailer stacked with thick styrofoam boxes. I could tell the boxes didn’t weigh much so I wondered what was in them.
Once I read the truck’s logo I had a better idea of what it was hauling. Home Energy, Inc.. was on the way to install one of their energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. Home Energy sells solar water heating systems as well as Earthlinked geothermal heating and cooling systems for homes.
I’ve been looking into geothermal heat pumps before as an energy-efficient way to heat and cool our house. Rather than squeeze heat out of the air (or into it), geothermal systems pull heat from the ground, which maintains a constant temperature year-round. The system uses pipes drilled into the ground to circulate refrigerant.
Its much more efficient than typical air conditioners, using a fraction of the electricity that a compressor would need, and that’s why I’m so interested in it. A geothermal heat pump system should easily be powered by solar panels, whereas a typical heat pump is too much of an electricity hog to make it work with solar.
We’re moving into already one of the most energy-efficient houses I’ve ever seen. I’d like to price out what it would take to add this capability to our new house. If it will pay for itself in 40 months as the Home Energy people claim, it could be a very good investment indeed.