Heat pumps come in three varieties: geothermal, electric, and a duel source system. These systems utilize various sources to move heat from various sources into and out of your house.

Air source electric heating systems are more energy efficient than the traditional electric heating system.

They come in sizes suitable for areas as large as you entire home and small enough to heat a single room. While not for regions where the temperature drop is too drastic, the system will work as well as a fully electric system in heating your home. These systems can provide up to one and a half to three times the amount of heat energy than the electricity used. A traditional electric heater heats the room providing less heat than the amount of electricity put in, so an air source heating system is around 5 to 10 times as efficient. Since you are not using as much electricity, your heating and cooling bills grow to be much less.

Geothermal heat pumps utilize the ground temperature to heat and cool your home.

Below the surface of the earth the ground temperature remains a steady forty five and seventy five degrees Fahrenheit, all year round, even in the winter and the summer. A geothermal heat pump takes the air from your home, carries it into the ground where it becomes the temperature of the earth. So in the winter, it will raise the temperature of your home, while in the summer it will cool it down. Geothermal heat pumps are much more efficient than other methods, and will last much longer than other systems. The only task electricity is performing is in circulating the heat up into the home (or out of it). Thusly the entire heating and cooling of the home is performed by the earth itself.

A compromise between the two systems is a dual source system.

These systems not only employ the use of a geothermal system, but to take up a little slack, they also employ the use of traditional electric systems. These sorts of systems are easier to install and cost less than a full geothermal system. The downside is that they are less efficient than the full geothermal system (but more than a fully electric system) and relies less on a natural source for heat. The most significant benefit to these hybrid systems is that they operate better than solely geothermal systems in areas where the temperature gradient is not as strong. Geothermal systems are more efficient when the temperature difference is large, as it facilitates heat transfer more readily.

There are many alternatives to traditional sources of home cooling and heating. Even using just traditional methods, such as a dual electricity and gas system, the key to these systems is to use materials for which they are more efficient. These alternatives provide more heat to your home at a lower cost to you, and utilize more natural sources of energy than the kinds used for electricity production. While the systems are more expensive than traditional systems, the reduction in the cost of electricity makes them money savers down the line.

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Originally posted 2008-12-02 05:22:44. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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air source, compromise, dual source, electric heater, electric heating systems, electricity, fahrenheit, five degrees, geothermal heat pump, geothermal heat pumps, geothermal system, ground temperature, heat energy, heating and cooling, single room, slack, source system, temperature drop, three times, winter and the summer