Quote:
Originally Posted by biker1
You are confusing heatpumps (an appliance that can generate heating or cooling via heat exchange with the air or the ground) with a specific implementation of a heatpump that does heat exchange with the ground. You almost certainly have an air based heatpump at your house unless you live in one of the older sections of The Villages with a standard AC and natural gas heat. Ground source heatpumps are probably extremely rare in The Villages as you need either multiple fairly deep bore holes or a larger shallow area for the heat exchange pipes. The vast majority of heatpumps are air exchange heatpumps. I first had a heatpump in 1984.
|
You are correct. Heat pumps are much more efficient than standard AC. There are air to air heat pumps, and ground source heat pumps (also known as geothermal). Our prior home n the Midwest had a geothermal heating/cooling system, and it was fantastic. But then, with 4 acres of property, we had the room for the 1200 feet of tubing buried to a depth of 14', where the temperature of the soil was a year-round 58°. The underground tubing was installed using a horizontal boring machine. In limited space applications, the underground tubing can also be installed vertically. The system we had heated and cooled a 4,000 SqFt house for around $600 a year...and I'm talking very hot summers, and very cold winters. All that said, I have not seen any homes in the Villages with a true geothermal system.