A heat pump is a mechanical device used for heating and cooling which operates on the principle that heat can be moved from a warmer temperature to a cooler temperature. A geothermal heat pump uses the earth to warm us in the winter and cool us in the summer.  You already have a heat pump in your home – your refrigerator. If you put your hand behind it you’ll feel the heat that has been removed from the food inside the refrigerator. This is the same principle that ECONAR uses to move heat to and from the home and earth.

The Technical View of the Heat Pump Process.

Remember that the heat pump moves heat from a low temperature source to a high temperature source. The process of elevating low temperature heat to over 100°F and transferring it indoors involves a cycle of evaporation, compression, condensation and expansion. A refrigerant is used as the heat transfer medium which circulates within the heat pump. The cycle starts as the cold liquid refrigerant passes through a heat exchanger (evaporator) and absorbs heat from the low temperature source (liquid from the ground loop). The refrigerant evaporates into a gas as heat is absorbed. The gaseous refrigerant then passes through a compressor where the refrigerant is pressurized, raising its temperature to over 160º F. The hot gas then circulates through a refrigerant-to-air heat exchanger where heat is removed and pumped into the home at about 100º F. When it loses the heat, the refrigerant changes back to a liquid. The liquid is cooled as it passes through an expansion valve and begins the process again. To air condition, the flow is reversed.