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. 

Passive solar heating is probably the simplest technique that can be employed to increase a home’s efficiency and reduce the amount of energy required for heating and cooling throughout the year. Passive solar heating is more about the way a home is sited and built to maximize exposure to the sun than anything else, but there are many things to consider when incorporating passive solar heating into a home. 

The most important thing to consider when incorporating passive solar heating into a home is its relation to the sun. Due to the fact that the sun passes in the southern sky in winter months, one would optimally have a greater proportion of windows facing south, so as to let the sun’s rays heat a home through the windows. The same positioning will help keep the home cooler in the summer, when the sun will pass overhead and not transmit heat through the windows. 

Other important factors to incorporate into passive solar design are: low E windows, to allow more solar energy to be transmitted through the windows; the planting of deciduous trees around the house to shade it in the warm summer months and allow sun to shine through in the cool winter months; more extensive insulation, to reduce the amount of energy lost through the walls and ceiling. 

Solar water heating systems can been used for a multitude of purposes including domestic hot water, pool heating, space heating using radiant floor technology and commercial water heating for businesses that consume a great deal of hot water such as Laundromats. 

The basic technology behind solar hot water is actually very simple, consisting of copper piping sandwiched between a highly reflective backing and a pane of glass. Water mixed with antifreeze is continuously passed through the copper piping and heated directly by the sun’s rays. This water is then fed to a home’s water heater where the radiant energy is transferred through a heat exchanger.

Radiant floor heating systems actually pump warm water into piping throughout a home and indirectly transfer the heat through the floor. This is a unique way of reducing energy bills by cutting down on energy used to heat a home with a gas furnace or electric heat pump.