Will Geothermal Heating Freeze in Winter?

One of the cool things about the internet is the amount of information available, mostly for free. But, one of the negatives when it comes to this information is some of it is guesstimates, myths, misinformed information, etc. Well, for this specific article we will be talking about geothermal heating and if it works in the winter months. You may have heard all sorts of sides to this question, but this is the most honest answer you will find. So, does geothermal heating work during the Allentown winters?

Short answer: Yes.

Standard Heat Pumps

One of the reasons why many people think that something like geothermal heating might not work in the winter is probably because standard heat pumps sometimes need additional backup heaters in extreme weather – like the winters here in Greater Lehigh Valley.

This isn’t the case with geothermal heating, however. One thing to remember about these geothermal heat pumps is that even if the outdoor air is cold, the ground is not going to be the same temperature. Say for instance that the outside temperature is around 15 degrees. The ground is not also going to be 15 degrees – instead it will be 45 to 55 degrees!

400% Efficiency

A geothermal heat pump has about 400% efficiency; it’s one of the reasons so many people use it. But one thing you need to remember is that even though it’s cold outside, the heat in the ground is still there even if the weatherman is calling for snow, high winds, and below zero weather conditions. Just because the temperature drops doesn’t mean that your pump won’t have enough heat to keep you warm. Your geothermal heating pump will work just as well, whether it’s 100 degrees or 10 degrees!

Vertical vs. Horizontal Pipe Loops

There are two different kinds of pipe loop installations. The first one is horizontal. This tends to be the cheaper option, but you also need a lot of room for it in terms of space. The other type of installation is the vertical option; again, this is a little more expensive, but you don’t have to worry about the lack of space and you can usually get away with having less pipe installed. If you live in a location where you have particularly harsh winters or really cold weather, it might be a better option to consider the vertical installation. It will be harder to drill into the ground vs. dig a shallow hole like you would with the horizontal option, but the vertical option will go further down into the ground so it will be warmer. It’s common sense, yet so many people get misinformed about this information!

Contact Jack Lehr with Your Lehigh Valley Geothermal Heating Questions

If you ever get stuck in a situation like this where you find a lot of misinformation available about a topic, do yourself a favor: Call a professional that actually knows what they are talking about and see what kind of advice they can give you about heat pumps. Sure, the internet is much more convenient, but as you can see here there is a lot of back and forth on what is true and what is not!

Have more questions about geothermal heating? Get in touch with the Allentown HVAC experts at Jack Lehr! Give us a call at (610) 596-9967 or contact us online today!