Ground source heat pumps and air source heat pumps

Ground source heat pump systems utilizes heat energy from the earth to keep your home warm. One important component of geothermal heating systems is a heat pump that regulates temperature distribution in your home. Heat pumps can be of different types, but the one used in geothermal heating systems is ground source heat pump which uses earth as a heat source. Air source heat pump is one of the other types of heat pumps, works similarly to ground source heat pump, but uses air as a heat source. It is important to understand the working of ground source and air source heat pumps to get an idea about the differences between both heat sources.

Heating

Ground source heat pumps are used in geothermal heating systems. Ground source heat pumps use earth’s energy in the form of heat. Heat energy circulates in the earth loop and warms the indoors. The name of the pump indicates that it uses ground or earth as a heat source. The earth absorbs a lot of heat energy from the sun and interior of the earth is a constant temperature. This temperature within the earth remains stable throughout the year and can be used to keep your structure warm regardless of low outdoor temperatures. We install ground source heat pumps inside the home to keep it protected from the severe cold weather of New Jersey. 

 Air source heat pump consumes heat from the atmosphere to keep your building heated. Air in the atmosphere contains energy in the form of heat that can be used to warm indoors. The question is  how can air source heat pumps maintain warm temperatures indoors when outdoor atmosphere is cold. The largest heat source, sun, is always giving heat energy to the air however the intensity of heat can vary because of the weather conditions. This means that heat can be extracted from the air in every season, but its quantity may not achieve the purpose of heating during the cold. The temperatures in winters can get extremely low in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and can stop air source heat pump from providing enough energy that you need to warm your place. So you will need an extra heat source to meet your heating requirements in the winters.

Cooling

Ground source heat pumps also work to provide cooling indoors in the summer. It extracts hot air and humidity from the indoors to lower the temperature. Ground source heat pumps collect heat from your home and transfer that heat into the earth passing by refrigerant.  The earth loop of heat pump contains low-temperature fluid which absorbs the heat coming from your home. The heat containing fluid goes under the ground via pipes and transfers the heat into the earth.

Air source heat pump, on the other hand, cools indoors by collecting heat inside your home and moving it outdoors.

Both type of heat pump work on the same principle that is to move heat from higher temperature to lower temperature areas. The difference between two heat pumps is the energy sources that are air and ground. Geothermal heating system makes use of energy stored underground using ground source heat pump to cool or warm your home or office.