Heat or cool your home using the Earth.

“Ground-source heat pumps have been in use for years, but with recent state and federal tax incentives, their popularity in North Dakota as a heating source has seen a steady increase,” says Carl Pedersen, North Dakota State University Extension Service energy educator.

A refrigerator basically is a heat pump; it pulls heat from inside the refrigerator and releases the extracted heat to the area around the refrigerator. Heat pumps heat or cool a building in generally the same way.

Ground-source heat pumps pull heat from underground, concentrate it in a heat pump and then distribute the heat throughout a home using forced-air ducts or in-floor hydronic tubing. In the summer, the process is reversed and the system can cool a home.

Ground-source heating systems are known by a variety of names, such as geothermal, GeoExchange and ground-couple heating systems, but all refer to the same thing.

They are very efficient ways to heat and cool a home, according to Pedersen. They cost more than conventional systems but can pay for themselves in energy savings, depending on the installation.

The NDSU Extension Service and North Dakota Department of Commerce recently collaborated on a publication, “Ground-source Heat Pumps (AE-1483),” to provide information about these types of heating and cooling systems. The publication offers some basic information for homeowners about heating and cooling their homes using the Earth as an energy source.

Contact your county Extension office for a free copy of the publication. It also is available online at http://www.ndsu.edu/energy.

For more information on this or other energy-related topics, visit NDSU’s energy website at http://www.ndsu.edu/energy or contact Pedersen at carl.pedersen@ndsu.edu or (701) 231-5833.

NDSU Agriculture Communication