The Geothermal Heat Pump (GHP) instead of using the air of the environment to reject (summertime) or remove (winter) heat loads, is using the heat load that is contained into the hypogean water, lake water and sea water, or even the heat contained in the earth! A few meters under the surface of the ground the temperature is almost constant during the year. The GHP, using a network of water piping, suitably placed, is exchanging heat loads with the soil or with the sea depending on the type of installation.

Comparison with the conventional installations:

A comparison with a conventional system of air conditioning with air-cooled exterior units as for example the, very known to all, split type room air-conditioners, the exterior units of which is placed on the balconies of apartments or on the rooftops of buildings. Everyone who has used them in the summertime during a very hot day (35°C or even 40°C), has probably noticed the high reduction of their output and their inefficiency to cool satisfactorily. This happens because the appliance is attempting to pump heat loads to an environment which is already overcharged with heat load and strains a useless effort consuming excessive sums of electric energy.

However, if our air-conditioner is pumping the heat load to a colder environment, such the soil, where during the hotter days of summertime the temperature does not exceed the 20°C, the output would be much bigger and the economy in electric energy considerable.

The usage of the geothermal exchangers is based on this principle of the thermodynamics. We can imagine that the heat pump, transports the underground environment of 20°C into our house. The electric energy consumption this way is the minimal possible.

Proportionately, in wintertime, the geothermal system is called to raise 15-17°C of the ground up to 20-22°C in order to heat the building. The energy saving obtained by this function is also very considerable compared with a conventional air-cooled heat pump. It is important to mention that a conventional air-conditioner is almost unable to warm our room when the outdoor temperature is below 0°C.