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Black Forest's iHouse

"Take an interactive tour of your home's indoor air comfort system."

Financing W.A.C.

We offer financing with approved credit.

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• Discounted repair?
• Front of the line service?
• Annual inspection, cleaning and tune-up
  on your system?

All with front of the line, same day (within 24 hour) service.

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you are a candidate for one of our very popular Club Memberships.

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Geothermal...

How Does Geothermal Work?

Simply put, Geothermal Energy is the energy - in the form of heat - that resides underground. In most places, subterranean soil and water deeper than four feet remains at a constant 55°F. This is true even when surface temperatures are well over 100°F or when they are below 0°F.

A ground source heat pump can replace your existing furnace or boiler and use the energy from underground to assist in heating and cooling air. To transfer the energy, geothermal systems use a network of buried pipes called a loop. Heat from the heat pump itself can be used to heat domestic water.

Like a refrigerator, a heat pump pressurizes hot refrigerant gas (brand name Freon) and then condenses it to a very cold liquid in a maze of copper tubing. In a refrigerator, this very cold liquid coolant moving through the coils is used to chill the food inside the refrigerator.

When the geothermal heat pump is being used as an air conditioner, the 55°F fluid in the loop is used to quickly cool the hot refrigerant gas in the heat pump thus greatly reducing the electricity energy needed to turn the hot refrigerant gas into a cold liquid. Air blowing across the cold heat pump coils is cooled and then moves through the ductwork throughout your home.

Unlike a refrigerator, however, the air conditioning process in a heat pump can be reversed to provide heat. In heating mode, the 55°F liquid in the loop warms the cold liquid refrigerant helping it to turn back into vapor. This warming from the geothermal loop substantially reduces the electrical power required to return the refrigerant to a gas. Air blowing across the heat pump's hot coils is then sent throughout your home via the air ducts.

Electricity is always required to run the heat pump, but much less energy is required because of the cooling assistance (in summer) and the warming assistance (in winter) the unit receives from circulating fluid in the loop.