Green Renewable Energy

The term geothermal literally means Earth/Ground (Geo) Heat (thermal). Geothermal, or ground source heat pumps, take advantage of the constant ground or groundwater temperatures. These heat pumps use geothermal energy to heat and/or cool your home.

A refrigerant loop with a compressor extracts heat from one side (the ground) and pumps it to the heating loop in your home. It is essentially the same process that happens in your refrigerator: heat is extracted via a compressor and refrigerant loop from the inside of your refrigerator/freezer and rejected into your house.

In the summer the geothermal heat pump reverses its cycle, if you have an air-conditioning system, and heat from the home is rejected into the ground or ground water.

What makes geothermal heat pumps such a good choice for residential heating and cooling is that they do not depend on outside air temperatures. These heat pumps will heat your home as efficiently on a windy, zero-degree winter day as on a 40-degree day. Provided of course, that your house is well insulated and tight.

Geothermal heat pumps are also a very efficient way for heating and cooling your home. They use 25-50% less energy than conventional heating and cooling systems (Source: US DOE).

Residential applications of geothermal energy systems use water-to-water or water-to-air heat pumps.

Water-to-Water Geothermal Heat Pumps

Water-to-water geothermal heat pumps are generally used for heating only. They replace the gas or oil furnace that you might currently have to heat your home and water with.

It is important to know that heat pumps work most effectively when the temperature difference between the heat source (ground) and heat sink (floor heat or radiators) is small.

Ground temperatures range anywhere from 50 to 75 degF, depending on where you live. This means that geothermal heat pumps are generally not suitable for standard hot water baseboard applications, which are designed for heating water temperatures of 180 degF. Floor heat and low-temperature radiators require water temperatures in the range of 95 to 140 degF.

Some newer heat pump models are now equipped with so-called desuperheaters that can transfer excess heat from the geothermal heat pumps compressor to the domestic water heater. Your geothermal heat pump can also effectively and quickly heat water for your bathtub, shower and sinks.

Water-To-Air Geothermal Heat Pumps

These types of ground source heat pumps are generally used when you need air conditioning. The Water is the heat sink, where you reject the heat from the house. The Air is the air that is distributed through your home via ductwork.

Otherwise, these heat pumps function the same way as water-to-water heat pumps. And again, the efficiency of a geothermal heating and cooling system is far better than that of a traditional system.

Important To Know

The first step towards making a geothermal heat pump system be a reliable and efficient heating (and cooling) system for your home is to minimize the heating and cooling requirements with a well-insulated building envelope and strategically placed windows for passive solar gain.

Not only is your first cost reduced, because your system will be smaller. You will also tremendously increase the comfort of your home.

Geothermal heat pumps systems are best designed and installed by professionals. It is not recommended to DIY. These systems must meet specific requirements. Especially the piping laid out in the ground, or down to the ground water table, must be designed and installed correctly to ensure that your geothermal heat pump system works as intended.

We all have access to a free, bright and renewable source of light – the sun. A great way to utilize it after dark is with solar lights. Solar lights have come a long way in the last few years and offer a wide array of styles, shapes and materials. They are powered by rechargeable batteries and can light up an area for the entire night. The lights are powered by light emitting diodes (LEDS) which rival hard-wired lights. They are very durable and can last for up to 1,000 hours.

Solar lights have several advantage over hard-wired lights some of which are:
Require no wiring
Powered by the sun
Fast and easy to install
Energy saving
Recharged by solar panels under sunlight
Light turns on automatically when dark
Super bright LED for brighter light output
Rechargeable Ni-Cd AA battery which are included
Safe water resistant
CE certified
LED bulb never burns out
Up to 10 hours of light when dark
Corrosion resistant
LEDs can last up to 100,000 hours
Batteries are rechargeable and should last for approximately 2 years before replacing

Solar Lights are totally free standing, simply fit the light components together, press the spike into the ground or screw on to the wall mounting, it’s that simple! Add them along pathways or set them up as spotlights. Add some unique lights and be the talk of the neighborhood.

There may be even more advantage to solar lighting based on your application. They do offer a real alternative to hard-wired lighting and are real versatile. They allow you the option to spending time outdoors after dark and allow you to light up any areas you may want. Solar lighting is a very versatile way to light up your yard.

Jerome Sturgeleski is an avid outdoors person and loves to stay out in his yard after dark. He lives in Minnesota so time outdoors is limited to just a few months of the year. After completing a landscaping project he thought the must be a way to light it up so he could enjoy in on those evenings out. He added some solar lights and liked it so well that he decided to start a website and sell solar lights so others could also add them and enjoy their outdoor spaces well into the evening. He started a website in May of 2005 called http://www.solarlightspro.com to allow people to see what types that are available.