Benefits of Geothermal vs Traditional HVAC in Alaska, Alaska

When you’re trying to choose how you want to control the temperature in your home, you have choices: do you want to go with a Traditional HVAC, or a Geothermal one? In Alaska, Geothermal heating and cooling has been growing in popularity. We know this can be a tough decision to make, but knowing the benefits of a Geothermal vs. Traditional HVAC system would be helpful. In the rest of this article, we talk a bit about the way that geothermal HVACs work and why lots of people pick geothermal energy, so you have a helpful resource to look at when choosing what’s best for your Alaska home.

Benefits of Geothermal Energy

Unlike a standard system that uses fossil fuels to make energy, a geothermal system gathers heat energy from below the earth and moves it into your building; it doesn’t depend on burning fossil fuels or using electricity in standard ways. The way it works is, an underground geothermal loop replaces heat inside your house with colder temperatures from the ground. Because of this, geothermal energy is extremely reliable; it's not important how hot or cold it is, deep in the ground temperatures are constant – warmer than the cold in Winter, and cooler than heatwaves in the Summer. And it’s a renewable source of energy, meaning it is naturally going to replenish itself, so it’s sustainable and will never run out.

Not only is it sustainable, but it also doesn't pollute: it’s categorized as environmentally friendly. Since it is a renewable energy source, geothermal energy is in contrast to most other standard energy sources, including coal and fossil fuels. It’s also more readily available than different clean energy sources like wind or solar power. When environmentally friendly is on your must-have list for a heating and cooling system, geothermal is the right choice.

Also, geothermal energy is a good choice if you’re trying to save money. Right now, approximately half of your energy bill is most likely due to traditional heating and cooling costs, and maybe you aren’t even aware of it. Though some consider up-front costs to be a little much, when it comes to your budget, geothermal would be a much better choice for you long term. This is for many reasons. First, there are no fossil fuels used at all with geothermal energy, which means prices should remain stable as time goes on. Not to mention, it’s available everywhere, and continued advancements in technology are making geothermal resources more exploitable and profitable. And here’s the greatest part about it all: for every one dollar of electricity used by your home, geothermal energy gives you four dollars of heat. This really makes an expensive up-front costs worth it.

You could be questioning whether a geothermal system could even work in your home. The thing is, geothermal systems are very flexible, allowing four different set ups. Whatever is the best choice for you can be determined by looking at your home and its surroundings.

So, geothermal energy is though to be environmentally friendly, economical, and reliable. Geothermal systems are flexible and can be installed in practically any location too. If you’re making the choice between geothermal and traditional HVACs, it can be difficult, even after learning so much about geothermal systems. If you have any questions, or want to learn more about a getting a geothermal system that’s right for you, call Energy Efficiency Associates at 907-277-0955 today.