Geothermal Heating and Cooling

What is Geothermal Energy? 

Geothermal Energy means "heat from the earth." Energy is taken from beneath our feet and used that ambient heat to heat and cool homes, businesses, and campuses.  

How can Geothermal Energy help you?  

By switching to Geothermal power sources, you can increase the efficiency of your house or business. Mountain communities are able to use heat that lies deeper in the ground. Not only can these communities use deeper heat sources, but they have the potential of using the leftover waste heat from hot springs. 

Using Geothermal Energy to heat and cool your home

Geothermal energy harnesses the stable temperature from underground by utilizing a piping system known as a "loop". This loop allows water to circulate and exchange heat between the ground and your home. A ground source heat pump is used to facilitate this process.

Ground source heat pumps use the ambient temperature of the ground resulting in improved efficiency up to 5x or more than ASHP! Geothermal Heat Pumps use the constant heat of the earth to heat and cool buildings. These heat pumps emit no greenhouse gasses because they are transferring heat from earth to home.

Source: https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/geothermal-heat-pumps

Geothermal direct-use wells, usually deeper than those for heat pumps, draw hot water from the subsurface and directly provide hot water to buildings and space heating. 

Source: https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/rhc/geothermal-heating-and-cooling-technologies_.html

Thermal Energy Networks are systems that utilize heat stored beneath the Earth's surface to provide heating and cooling for buildings and infrastructure. They involve circulating fluid through underground pipes to transfer heat to or from the ground. 

Colorado Mesa University

Geothermal energy works by using heat pumps to conduct the naturally occurring temperature to heat and cool your home. All heat pumps are measured using Coefficient of Performance (COP) values, the larger the COP value the more efficient that that technology is. Because the heat pumps are using the existing heat in the air or ground is it 100% efficient (or has a COP value of 1). Air source heat pumps (ASHP) can have a COP of 2-3+ whereas ground source heat pumps (GSHP) can have a COP of 3-5. GSHP gets a higher COP value due to having a more consistent temperature range. Here in CO at Colorado Mesa University they were able to achieve a COP value of 8.9!

Brown Ranch Community

In February 2023, the Yampa Valley Housing Authority (YVHA) Board of Directors decided that the 2,300-unit Brown Ranch development would utilize a geothermal community district heating system. The project has been awarded $15 million in state funding and is currently working with the City of Steamboat for another $8 million. Initial projections indicate that implementing the geothermal system is expected to yield an approximate 47% reduction in energy costs. This decrease is attributed to the efficiency offered by geothermal energy technologies.