Ground source heat pumps use the constant temperature of the earth to help with the regulation of temperature within a home. Once you penetrate the surface of the earth just a few feet, the temperature remains a constant 45-75 degrees year round, depending on the latitude. This ground temperature is warmer than the air above it during the winter and cooler than the air in the summer. A ground source heat pump takes advantage of this by exchanging heat with the earth through a ground heat exchanger.
Ground source heat pumps can have several configurations to maximize the features of a certain location. Thermal lines can be run vertically, horizontally, or even within a pond or lake to tap the temperature of the earth. The lines can be filled with a water-glycol solution, or simply with air in the proper conditions, and connected to a home’s heat pump to dramatically improve efficiency and operation costs. Due to their utility, approximately 40,000 ground source heat pumps are installed in the US every year.