Since the use of coating and painting on rooftop to keep the room cool, we have come a long way when it comes to heating and cooling system.

From the central AC unit, Air-Source heat pump, Gas furnaces to the more nontraditional options like Solar thermal heat pump and Geothermal heat pumps, the heating and cooling system market is fairly diversified. But which one should you pick for your home will depend on your requirement and your home size. Besides, the fuel cost efficiency is something that you need to consider and since we are talking about fuel efficiency, I should emphasize on Solar Thermal Heat Pumps and Geothermal Heat Pumps.

HVAC costs of having Solar Thermal heat pump or Geothermal heat pump

While most of the air conditioning units use fuel and burns it to create energy, Solar thermal and Geothermal heat pumps use renewable energy and transfers the heat from one place to another.

The basics are geothermal heat pumps use the heat from the earth to heat the room and solar thermal heat pump use solar energy to heat the home.

Since they are using free energy, cost-efficiency in fuel expenses is maximum for these HVAC systems. Now, let’s talk about the Geothermal and Solar Thermal heat pump in details.

Geothermal Heat Pump

Some people argue that Geothermal heat pumps can be separated into two other types of heat pumps. One is the Ground-Source Heat Pump and the other one is Water-Source Heat Pump. As you can guess, these 2 heat pumps use heat from ground and water. But since the ground and water both are the same source of heat, the ground, many people don’t like to call them ground-source or water source heat pumps. Instead, they just call it geothermal heat pumps collectively.

These geothermal heat pumps work exactly like any other heat pump. It uses the heat transfer principle. Basically, these heat pumps sources the heat from the ground or water and then transfers the heat inside the room.

Note that these geothermal heat pumps are not like the geothermal plants. Don’t confuse these plants with geothermal heat pumps. Unlike geothermal heat pumps, these geothermal plants tap into the unlimited energy of the earth to produce electricity.

The geothermal systems that are used in households usually keep the consistent temperature of 45 degrees to 75 degrees of the ground for heating and cooling the rooms. In summer days, the heat of the rooms is removed in the same ways as your refrigerator works. In winter days, the warmth of the ground is brought into the rooms to keep the temperature comfortable for your family members.

The indoor geothermal heat pumps generally use electricity driven compressors with heat exchangers. These setups concentrate the energy taken from the earth which is then released inside the rooms, that also at a high temperature.

Most of these geothermal heat pumps use air ducts to flow the heated air inside the room. That’s why the air duct cleaning cost is something to consider with these HVAC systems. Generally, the HVAC cost is about $15,000 including the HVAC installation and energy bills for a 2000 Square foot house.

These heat pumps come in closed and open loop setups. The open loop setup use uses the water from a pond, a well or from any other body of water to circulate into the system. The system then discharges this water through another pipe. On the other hand, in a closed loop system, the water or antifreeze substance is sealed within the heat pump HVAC system. To save the additional digging costs, a standing column well could use a well that is also being used for domestic water. Then return the used water through the same borehole.

Solar Thermal Heat Pump

The solar thermal heat pumps are very uncommon but they are very efficient in saving fuel costs.

When people think of a solar thermal heat pump, they imagine a water-based HVAC system that heats tubes filled with liquid behind the glass panel. This provides water for domestic use that is heated by solar energy.

This solar thermal heat pump can also provide genuine heating when they are used with a radiant in-floor heating system, even though it could turn out to be an expensive setup. Also, many people may not realize this but like many HVAC systems, these solar thermal heating systems can heat the air too. Like most heating and air conditioning system, these solar air heating panel could be mounted to the south-facing exterior walls, including air duct or vents inside. The air is heated behind the solar glass panels. Later on, the fan of the system blows this heated air and distributes in the rooms.

With many solar thermal heating systems, the fan is powered by solar power itself. It is very easy to achieve and all you’ll need is some mounting work and a medium sized hole on your wall. A simple window air collector or heater would not cost you more than a few hundred bucks.

These solar thermal heating systems are an excellent supplement for the traditional space heating systems. Besides, they can reduce the energy bills by as much as 25-30% by heating the rooms with natural daylights during the day. From the savings you make in bills, you will get the return for the HVAC systems in no time.

Bottom Line

Solar thermal HVAC and Geothermal heat pumps are two of the most underrated heating and cooling systems. The best part about these two HVAC systems is they use renewable energy which cuts a big part from the HVAC cost. Besides, the AC repair costs are cut down too. So, cost efficiency in fuel or energy and in AC maintenance & repair. That’s why many plants and facilities are using these HVAC systems to cut in the production cost. If you are in the same territory looking for some cuts in energy bills, these are some good options.