Can my geothermal heating system do forced air and in-floor?

Q:

I want to put geothermal in the custom house that I plan to build, but I want in-floor and forced air heating, is that possible with geothermal units?

A:

This is entirely possible with today’s available technology.

In a home that has access to gas you would require one unit to heat the floor and another unit to do the air handling or forced air. That is not the case when you are doing the same jobs with geothermal heating.

There is an all in one unit that will do both in-floor and forced air at the same time. You will not require two units, as long as your house is not extremely large.

These new dual units work on the same principles as normal geothermal heating units.

A geothermal heating system has lines filled with a liquid that absorbs the heat from under the ground and transports it into the home for the furnace to make heat or to create cooling. There is no gas or electricity required to make the heat, the heat is make from pressurizing the liquid and passing it over a rad that a fan blows air over. This heats the air to the desired temperature and the furnace circulates it around the home.

When doing in-floor with geothermal the piping coming from the ground outside runs into a storage tank that holds the water or glycol (which ever liquid you’re in-floor system is running on). The heated lines heat the holding tank to the desired temperature and then the warm liquid is circulated throughout the piping under the floor.

These two different heating scenarios are now completed in one unit. This single unit with the storage tank beside it takes up far less room then the conventional dual units that were installed in the past.

This heating system is an extremely energy efficient way to heat your home and I would recommend this to any homeowner looking for an energy efficient heating option for their country home.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.