News
May 18, 2010Geothermal Power versus GeoExchange Heating and Cooling
There has been much confusion of late between geothermal power and geoexchange heating and cooling. Perhaps the easiest way to differentiate between the two is to think of geothermal power as the deeper, hotter resource that generates electricity while geoexchange uses the ambient heat of the near surface earth to provide heating and cooling for residential of commercial use.
Geothermal Power
Is derived from deep, hot geothermal resources. These are often found 2-4 km below the surface and are typically in excess of 70 degrees Celsius. Water or fluid is used to transfer the heat from the deep resource to the surface which drives a turbine and generator to produce electricity. While this geothermal power is predominantly used to generate electricity the waste heat can also be used for heating in residential and commercial applications. Find out more here
GeoExchange
These systems use heat pumps which collect and/or distribute heat through a network of pipes buried 1-2 meters below surface or submerged in a body of water. Such systems rely on the relatively constant temperature of the earth just below the frost line which is typically 5-10 degrees Celsius. A heat pump or heat exchanger collects and concentrates this heat to provide heating during colder months. In summer the process is reversed to provide cooling by disseminating heat to the surrounding environment. These systems require electricity to run the pumps and equipment and do not generate electricity. See www.geo-exchange.ca to learn more.
