The Smart Guide to Geothermal: How to Harvest Earth's Free Energy for Heating and Cooling

This edition has been replaced by the expanded edition: Geo Power. Discover why geothermal heating and cooling is the most energy efficient technology available to homeowners, and how all homes--new or retrofit, in hot or cold climates--can use this reliable, silent, non-polluting way of extracting free energy from the earth.

Contents:
- Geothermal system options, including open-loop, closed-loop and DX configurations, using horizontal and vertical earth loops
- The importance of finding a qualified contractor
- Costs, tax credits and payback issues, plus calculating increased home values
- Who is using geothermal energy, including the author s firsthand experiences, home profiles from around the country as well as an overview of commercial/institutional projects
- How solar electricity can be used to power the system, plus other future trends
- Unraveling the science and technology of geothermal heat pumps (GHPs)
- Understanding GHP performance standards, ratings and warranties
- Comprehensive appendix with helpful resources (manufacturers, associations, etc.) and a career section for those interested in entering the field

Don Lloyd is an electrical engineer now retired from Honeywell after 35 years in marketing, engineering and project management. He has extensive experience in taking complex subjects (such as laser gyroscopes or mosaic infrared detectors) and explaining how they work in terms understood by the general public. Don and his wife live happily with their own geothermal system in the Hudson River Valley of New York where oil trucks pass by their new home, but never stop.