Ventilation is an important component for geothermal heating systems

Geothermal heating systems don’t just require a heat pump. To create a system that can really keep you comfortable, proper ventilation is a must. Homes today are insulated very well to keep heat and conditioned air inside, reducing energy waste. Unfortunately, all this air sealing restricts ventilation.

Proper ventilation is necessary to keep you breathing fresh air indoors. Without proper ventilation, indoor air quality suffers drastically. Pollutants and humidity can easily build up without ventilation, diminishing your indoor air quality and contributing to various problems with your health and your home.

Air tight homes with geothermal heating systems need to have ventilation systems in place. Air exchangers can be used to minimize the loss of heating and cooling while providing fresh air. Common features of air exchangers include heat recovery ventilation (HRV) and energy recovery ventilation (ERV). Using HRV, an air exchanger transfers heat that is contained in air which is exhausted from the home to the fresh air coming inside. It eliminates the mixing of stale air with fresh air while still retaining your heat energy. ERV works to control the amount of humidity entering the home through fresh air supplies.

Don’t overlook the importance of a ventilation system when you install a geothermal heating system. Proper ventilation protects your home from damage and can prevent health issues caused by poor indoor air quality. Smith Sustainable Design is a geothermal heating system contractor in New Jersey who also installs important ventilation components. For more information about the benefits of proper ventilation, give us a call today.

Control humidity when using a geothermal heat system

Maintaining the right temperature is essential to maintaining your comfort. One factor that affects your geothermal heat system’s ability to maintain your comfort is humidity. When you use a geothermal heat system, it’s important to manage humidity levels by using a whole home dehumidifier.

Many people don’t realize how much humidity can affect one’s comfort. Too much humidity indoors can leave you feeling sticky, like you’ve been outside on a humid summer day- nobody wants to feel that way inside. It can cause your skin to feel clammy and even cause odors throughout your home.

Using a whole home dehumidifier with your geothermal heat system will help you improve indoor air quality. Excessive moisture is one of the many factors than diminishes indoor air quality and can affect your health. A whole home dehumidifier improves filtration and ventilation, along with providing moisture control.

A whole home dehumidifier manages indoor humidity to keep you comfortable and protect your home. Too much humidity can cause damage to your home’s interior and structure. Moisture affects woodwork such as flooring, trim, cabinetry, and furnishings. Excessive moisture can cause paint and decorative finishes to crack or peel. When humidity levels are not controlled in your home, the excess moisture can create a breeding ground for mold and mildew, which can cause serious damage to your home.

A whole home dehumidifier can improve the performance of your geothermal heat system and your home. Smith Sustainable Design provides quality geothermal heat system installation and design, as well as installation of whole home dehumidifiers. For more information about how dehumidification solutions can improve moisture control and air quality in your home, contact us.

Hydron Module geothermal heating and cooling systems

When choosing a geothermal heating and cooling system, there are many models from many different manufacturers to choose from. At Smith Sustainable Design, we install systems built by several reputable manufacturers, including Hydron Module.

Hydron Module geothermal heating and cooling systems are built with high quality components and excellent craftsmanship. These systems are made in America, and undergo rigorous testing to assure quality. Combining the best components with innovative design allows Hydron Module to offer quiet, efficient operation on systems that last longer than the competition. Heavy gauge steel cabinets are used to ensure tough construction and more protection compared to other brands.

Hydron Module systems offer higher heating capacities than competing models, meaning you’ll have less need for supplemental heating, saving you more on heating costs. Oversized heat exchangers which come standard on Hydron Module equipment exceed the efficiency levels required by ENERGY STAR for additional energy savings.

Hydron Module geothermal heating and cooling systems are flexible and appropriate for numerous applications. Go hybrid with a split system-combine with a new or existing furnace to provide for all your home’s air conditioning needs and 80-90% of your heating requirements. Hydron Module water-to-water systems offer chilled water for air conditioning, eliminating the need for a supplemental air conditioning unit. In fact, there is a Hydron Module system built to fit every residential application!

When choosing geothermal heating and cooling systems, there are many options available to you. The experts at Smith Sustainable Design offer reliable geothermal heating and cooling system design and installation, and can help you decide which equipment is best for your home. For more information about Hydron Module geothermal systems, contact us today.

The added benefits for installing geothermal heat systems

Yes, a geothermal heat system is a great energy-efficient way to heat and cool your home. In addition to energy savings, these systems offer another convenient benefit: radiant floor heating. What some may think of as a luxury, it’s easy to warm your floors with radiant heating when you have a geothermal system in place at home.

With a geothermal heat system, a hydronic radiant floor heating system can easily be added on. Hydronic systems use hot water to carry heat to areas within your home. A network of piping is laid below floors, and 

can even be used outdoors to melt snow off sidewalks and driveways.

Radiant floor heating is a great comfort feature to add in combination with geothermal heat systems. Imagine your feet hitting a nice, warm floor in the winter! These systems are also perfect for warming up cool tile flooring in kitchens and baths. When used with geothermal heating systems, radiant floor heating costs very little to operate.

With a geothermal heat system and radiant floor system in place, you’ll want to choose the right floor coverings to conduct the heat properly. The most common floor covering to use with radiant floor heating is ceramic tile, because this material conducts heat well and provides additional thermal storage. Other flooring materials such as vinyl, linoleum, and wood can be effective, but you’ll want to choose a material with minimal insulation. Carpet, for instance, is often thicker and includes a thick pad; to use carpet with radiant floor heating, choose a thinner carpet and dense pad for better results.

When installing a geothermal heat system, think of the additional comfort and benefit a hydronic radiant floor heating system can provide your family. Practical and convenient, these systems can be easily added to your geothermal heat system installation. Call Smith Sustainable Design for more details.

Our geothermal heating and cooling system components

When we design and install a geothermal heating and cooling system, we use quality, reliable components to ensure your system will operate effectively and efficiently for many years to come. At Smith Sustainable Design, we use components manufactured by Rehau, a leader in geothermal component design.

The RAUGEO™ line of components includes features that combine to create a more secure geothermal heating and cooling system. These components are cost effective and easier for us to install versus other manufacturers’ products, meaning less install time and expense for our homeowners. Here are some of the RAUGEO™ products we use:

• RAUGEO PEXa Pipe: This flexible piping material requires fewer fittings than HDPE piping, saving you money on additional components. RAUGEO PEXa piping provides excellent resistance to impact, earth movement, and rock impingement, and we trust it for its durability.
• EVERLOC Fittings: REHAU EVERLOC brass compression-sleeve fittings allow for secure connections between ground loop components. Their heat shrink wrap protects the fittings from corrosive soils which may be present.
• PRO-BALANCE XP Manifolds: By using a PRO-BALANCE XP manifold, we can easily optimize your geothermal heating and cooling system. These manifolds include balancing valves, flow meters, and isolation valves which allow for easy access and control of the ground loop.
• RAUGEO U-bends: Using the RAUGEO PEXa piping, bends can be bent in a tight 180-degree radius and cast in fiberglass-reinforced polyester resin, eliminating the need for connections and potential leaks.
• RAUGEO Double U-bends: These double u-bends extract more energy than the typical vertical loop components and offers higher security against ground loop failures. RAUGEO Double U-bends feature seamless technology, just as the single u-bends. These components are built to resist damage caused during borehole insertion and remove the risks associated with underground joints.

At Smith Sustainable Design, we use top-quality components to ensure our customers receive long-lasting performance and satisfaction with their geothermal heating and cooling system. We are confident that the products we install and the systems we design will offer you optimal energy savings and durability. For more information about the components we use when installing a geothermal heating and cooling system, contact Smith Sustainable Design anytime.

How do geothermal heating systems transfer heat?

The way a traditional furnace transfers heat is easy for most people to understand- but how do geothermal heating systems transfer heat? With a geothermal heating system, there is no combustion like with a gas or fossil fuel-powered furnace. The energy source for these systems lies beneath the ground.

Geothermal heating systems work by transferring heat from one area to another. They work very similarly to the refrigerator in your kitchen, which moves hot air out of the interior to keep perishable food cool. Geothermal heating systems transfer heat from the earth into your home to keep you warm in the winter, and transfers heat from your home back into the earth in the summer to keep you cool.

The ground loop which is installed in conjunction with geothermal heating systems uses fluids to absorb the warm temperatures from within the ground to heat a home. When the earth is warmer than the fluid in the ground loop, the fluid works to absorb the warmer temperatures and moves this energy back to your home. Just like a refrigerator or traditional air conditioner, geothermal heating systems use a refrigerant, like Freon. The refrigerant allows the system to extract heat from the fluid inside your ground loop.

As you may know, geothermal heating systems provide not only heating, but cooling as well. When cooling is needed, the same principles are at work, except heat is drawn from your home and travels back into the cool earth through the warm loop fluid. Geothermal heating systems work simply by transferring heat from one place to the next- no combustion needed!

Geothermal heating systems transfer heat much differently than a traditional furnace. Because they lack the use of combustible fuels and use natural energy from within the earth, geothermal heating systems use less energy and are an efficient choice for many homes. To learn more about how geothermal heating systems work, or to schedule a consultation for your home, contact Smith Sustainable Design today.

Improve the efficiency of your geothermal heating system by duct sealing

There are many ways homeowners can further improve the efficiency of their geothermal heating systems. One way you can drastically improve efficiency is by performing duct sealing. Gaps or broken sections in your duct work cause air loss, leading to energy waste and inefficiency. By sealing these areas, you’ll keep your conditioned air in the duct system and flowing into your living areas for maximum efficiency.

Sealing duct leaks keep more of your conditioned air traveling to your living areas, rather than allowing it to escape the duct system. Duct system allows your geothermal heating system to work less to keep your home comfortable. When air is lost through breaks and openings in the duct system, your geothermal heating system has to work longer and harder to make up for the loss, using more energy than it really needs. By decreasing the run-time of your system, you will lower your energy bills even further than you already have by installing a geothermal heat system.

Your duct work is likely located in an unconditioned area, like your attic, crawlspace, or basement. If your duct work is easily accessible, you can perform an inspection and the necessary sealing to improve the performance of your duct work. Check for:

• Loose joints and fittings
• Fallen duct work sections
• Gaps around connections to registers and return air grills

Duct sealing can be a simple procedure, but many homeowners don’t know the right technique. Contrary to popular belief, duct tape shouldn’t be used to perform lasting duct work repairs. A compound called mastic should be applied to the duct work, as it dries solid and provides a permanent fix for duct issues. If you cannot easily access your duct work, it is best to call in a professional to perform safe and reliable duct sealing for your home.

Duct sealing is a great way you can improve the performance of your geothermal heating system. Simple solutions like duct sealing can result in major energy savings, and help improve the lifespan of your equipment. If you have any questions about duct sealing, or other ways you can improve your geothermal heating system’s performance, contact Smith Sustainable Design.