Residential Earth Energy Systems: A Buyer's Guide

Natural Resources Canada (Canada Centre for Remote Sensing)

CETC Number ISBN0662-30980-4 / 2002-01-01

How to Use this Guide

Residential Earth Energy Systems: a Buyer’s Guide provides homeowners with the information they need to plan for the purchase of an earth energy heat pump system in a new or existing home. You may have already read the companion brochure An Introduction to Earth Energy Systems.

Now you want to know more about this renewable and energy efficient year-round climate control system.

Section 1 is an introduction to Earth Energy Systems – what they are, how they work, the different types, the benefits they provide and how much earth energy they need to work. Whether you are buying or building a new home, or planning to retrofit your existing home, you should read Section 1.

New home buyers should then read Section 2. Here you will read about how your house design affects an Earth Energy System. It also recommends system designs that work best for your house type and compares their typical operating costs to alternative heating and cooling systems.

Section 3 is for homeowners who want to install an Earth Energy System in their existing home. The design and system that are right for the home you are living in now can be very different from standard systems. Because of this, and to make the installation of your new system as easy as possible for you and your family, you need to plan. This section covers various ways you can upgrade your heating and cooling system, compares their operating costs and lists important steps you should take when servicing your system. You will also need to read certain parts of Section 2 that apply to your situation.

Section 4 is important for all readers – those buying or building a new home, as well as those retrofitting or renovating an existing home. It provides guidance on selecting a contractor and what needs to be covered in a basic contract. It also covers service and maintenance as well as basic troubleshooting.

Section 5 provides additional sources of information. The Guide ends with a glossary of terms used in the earth energy industry (given in italics throughout the Guide, except for captions, like this: ground water), and an appendix called “Installation Checklist.” Give this checklist to your contractor, who should fill it out, sign it and return two copies to you. A table of conversion factors and a reader’s survey complete this guide.

The industry also uses other terms to describe Earth Energy Systems: they include ground- and water-source heat pumps, GeoExchange®, and geothermal heat pumps.

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