"We love the benefits of using our geothermal heating and airconditioning system in the Kawarthas."

Our geothermal system uses the energy of the sun, stored in the ground around our house, to keep us nice and warm in the cold winters and cool on those hot days of summer. Even in the winter, when a blanket of snow covers the ground, the earth's temperature remains approximately 10°C (50°F) at only six feet below the surface. So this means we have a steady supply of heat to keep us in a warm and comfortable house during those long weeks in the depths of the coldest winter.

How it works

We have a series of pipes buried in the ground in our yard. An ethanol solution is circulated through the pipes to make them highly efficient conductors of heat. So in the winter, the ethanol in the pipes absorbs the heat from the ground and warms up. The fluid is then pumped back through our unit into our house which is connected to our forced air system. In the summer, the heat transfer process is reversed. The fluid in the pipes leaves the house in a warm state, but after circulating underground, is cooled as the pipes exchange heat with the cooler earth.

There are many reasons why we love our system

It has low maintenance. We only have to clean the electrostatic filter once a month to keep the system in good running order.
It is very quiet. The pumps quietly circulate fluid through the heat exchanger. There is no sound of combustion or forced-flame noise. Our house is always cool in the summer witthout the noisy sound of an outdoor air conditioner.
It keeps the air comforable. Our system eliminates indoor temperature swings and humidity changes. It also does not have that occasional odour caused by combustion of fossil fuel.
It has a life expectancy of at least 20 years.
The most important to us is how it is environmently friendly. We are proud that our system uses the earth as its resource. This makes it efficient, non-polluting and our hydro bill very low. We read that replacing a fossil fuel system with geothermal immediately cuts a household energy emissions by 50%, the equivalent of taking four cars off the road.