Hot new ideas for cooling your home are in works

Recently, I tried explaining the air conditioning process on the radio on two separate occasions. Both times we were flooded with calls asking for clarification. Thats when I went to some trusted air conditioning technicians and we simplified it to this: Air conditioning is simply a matter of moving heat from point A to point B.

Im getting excited about the wave of new equipment and technology making its way to the consumer with the potential to greatly reduce the cost of staying comfortable in our desert summers. Heres whats happening:

--Geothermal cooling systems Usually called ground source heat pumps, these systems use the relatively constant temperature of the earth to cool or heat air in your house.

There are several ways to do this, including some involving groundwater. But in Arizona, it is often a closed loop system of pipes underground in vertical rows. Workers drill wells near the house. These are dry wells that hold pipes for the heat transfer underground.

A heat pump located inside a house or garage will circulate a solution of about 30 percent ethylene glycol mixed with water through the underground pipes. In the summertime, a heat exchanger transfers heat between refrigerant in the heat pump and the solution in the closed loop. In winter, the same system can heat the house. In retrofits, existing ductwork in the house can often be used.

It gets more expensive in Phoenix because you have to drill deeper into the ground to reach the right cooling level. The ground temperature at 15 feet down in Phoenix is 80 degrees as opposed to 70 degrees in Central Arizona or even less than that in Northern states.

And anywhere in Arizona now, it is not cheap to install a ground source heat pump. A system for an existing home of about 3,000 square feet would cost about $50,000 to $70,000, mainly due to drilling, according to Jeremy Rushton of Yavapai. In a new house, it might cost about 15 to 20 percent less. There is a federal tax credit of 30 percent for geothermal devices available through 2016.

There can be big savings on heating and cooling with this system. The heat pump uses electricity, but not as much as a traditional air conditioner. A system can also be solar powered to avoid using electricity at all. You can also use your system to heat your hot water.

nMini-split air conditioners Mini-splits are small, individual air conditioners that can be easily installed to cool an individual room. They can hang from a ceiling or on a wall. There are also floor-standing models. These systems include an indoor evaporator connected to an outdoor condensing unit.

The indoor section of one in my offices is about a yard long, less than a foot tall, and several inches in depth. The evaporator is connected to the condenser by copper tubing and wiring that passes through a small hole in the wall.

See the original post here:
Hot new ideas for cooling your home are in works