Can Ceiling Fans Be Used For Geothermal Energy?

Geothermal Energy

• To capture the energy of the earth and use it to heat and cool your home, you need a geothermal heat pump. These are also called ground-source heat pumps or geoexchange systems. In the winter, they pull heat from the ground and circulate it through the house for warmth. During the summer, heat is drawn out of your home and used in your hot water heater. No matter where you live in the United States, a geothermal system can be installed.

Types of Geothermal Heat Pumps

• There are three primary ways to extract energy from the ground to heat or cool your home. Open-loop, direct expansion and closed-loop systems are all named after their underground piping configurations. Open-loop systems pull heat from the ground up with ground water. Closed-loop systems use fluid that flows through closed pipes to absorb the heat from the ground. Direct expansion systems do not need a separate fluid for transferring the heat from the ground. Copper pipes filled with refrigerant run underground where the refrigerant heats. This is then sent directly to the house for heating.

What Ceiling Fans Do

• Ceiling fans move air around a room. You should only use the ceiling fan if someone will be in the room. This is because ceiling fans operate on the wind chill effect. As the air moves over your skin, it absorbs moisture from your skin and cools you down. This effect can make the room feel 4 to 6 degrees cooler under a fan on medium speed than without a fan, according to home improvement expert Tom Tynan. If no one is in the room to feel this wind chill effect, the energy used to operate the ceiling fan is wasted.

How to Use Ceiling Fans with Geothermal Energy

• Ceiling fans can help you save energy by reducing your need to operate the geothermal heat pump during hot or cold spells. In the summer use ceiling fans to cool you off in a room and you will not have to turn the thermostat down as low. During the winter, flip the switch on your ceiling fans to reverse the blades' direction. This will push warm air from the ceiling down into the room, making it feel warmer. This lets you keep the thermostat for your geothermal system at a lower temperature.