As wind and solar power continue to flourish within the renewable energy sector, there is yet another source of alternative energy below our feet waiting to be utilised. Low-temperature, geothermal ground-source heat exchanger systems can be used in almost any location to transfer heat from the earth to provide heating as well as cooling of domestic and commercial buildings such as offices, hotels, schools and hospitals. The annual growth in installation and use has been over 10 per cent per annum over the last ten years in USA and Europe. Every one in four new builds in Switzerland is heated via a ground-source heat pump. The relatively stable average temperature, 7 to 15℃, in the ground at 100m deep, can be transformed into a more useful temperature, higher for heating and lower for cooling, by a heat pump. A ground coupled heat pump can use the earth as a heat sink in the summer and as a heat source in the winter, thereby requiring 25 to 50 per cent less electricity than conventional heating or cooling systems. Currently, no other technology has such potential to save energy.
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