Geothermal Heating and Cooling

As water well regulations become stiffer and the well drilling industry finds its self being pushed out of the water business, our industry has to make some hard choices while we adjust our business strategies.  Certainly, moving from a large full-service construction operation to a leaner, service-oriented repair and maintenance platform is a viable option, but we still face one problem:

We own some pretty expensive and potentially worthless equipment.  

I mean, if we can't drill a well, how will we justify keeping a 1/2 Million dollar drilling rig?

If no one else can drill either, who would buy it?

Thankfully, there is an answer for our industry:

Geothermal Boring

When you heat or cool your home, you are working against the outside temperature.   Your home is constantly trying to equalize its temperature to whatever the temperature is outside.  A geothermal system adds another factor into the air conditioning system: 

Geothermal heating and cooling is a process by which the temperature in your home is regulated by the more-or-less consistent temperature deep underground.

There are two basic types of geothermal systems: closed loop, and open discharge.

An open discharge system can operate off of a new or existing well.  If you have a well, you know that your water is COLD: between 57° and 62° Fahrenheit here in the southeast.   If the outside air temperature is 40° and you'd like it to be 68°, you have a net difference of 28°, and a conventional system has to make up that entire difference.  But, if you use the groundwater temperature as your base, you have a difference of just a few degrees- making it easier to heat your home.

In the summer- if you would like a household temperature of 72°, and it's 90° outside, 

(18° difference) you can just pull on that cold underground temperature to easily bring the conditioned air temperature down to where you want it.

That cold water is pumped out of your well, through your HVAC system where heat is exchanged, then discharged into a cistern or pond.  You can then use that same water for irrigation, or it can be filtered and recycled back into your potable water system.

A closed loop incorporates several (sometimes more than a dozen) boreholes several 100' deep through which a loop of waterline is run.  Rather than pulling fresh water from the ground whenever your HVAC runs, this system's lines always stay full of water, which is pushed through this system of pipes.  As it travels through the ground, it is cooled to near ground temperature then the same rules of heating and cooling apply.

These systems are wonderful, and our experience with them has proven them to be a reliable and cost effective alternative to a conventional gas or electric system.  If you are building a new home or your existing HVAC system is old and you are considering replacement, it is certainly worth looking into a system like this.  With 70% or more improved efficiency over conventional, this type system could literally pay for its self in just a few short years.  To determine just how much you could save with a system like this, enter your information into this calculator.  

Geothermal boring may not be the be-all end-all answer to the drilling industry's problems, but is can certainly help struggling businesses as we face what looks like an end to private water systems.  Unless private citizens make their voices heard, it may be the only answer we have.