Geothermal Energy is earth (geo) drawn heat (thermal).

Historically, animals have always known to burrow into the earth, where the temperature is relatively stable compared to external air temperature.

As in a cave, ground temperature is warmer (about 45 - 58 degrees F just a few feet below the surface) than the air above it during the winter and cooler than the air above it during the summer. Today, with Geothermal Heating and Cooling Systems (GHCS) people take advantage of this fact by exchanging heat with the earth through a ground heat exchanger.

During cold seasons, a GHCS extracts heat from the ground for use in spatial heating. During the warmer seasons the opposite is applied: the heat from a building is dispersed into the cooler ground

A GHCS has three major components:

A) A geothermal pump that draws heat to and from the ground.
B) A fluid based energy transfer system for the transfer of heat between the pump and the ground
C) HVAC systems to distribute energy (heating or cooling) to the building.

In this way, GHCS systems may serve to provide heating and cooling for residential, commercial and even industrial applications using air based systems, hydronic systems and domestic and processed water systems.

GHCS use very little electricity and are very environmentally friendly.

Worldwide, GHCS energy saving systems are used in over 650,000 homes, schools and offices.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rated GHCS as among the most efficient of heating and cooling technologies.