By HeatSpring Instructor, Ryan Carda, Geo-connections, Inc.

In uncertain economic times, can a ground source heat pump (GSHP) serve to shelter us from the forces that cause our energy prices to fluctuate (and generally increase with time)? Those of us in the GSHP industry already know of the many benefits that these systems retain over conventional heating and cooling systems, especially in the areas of environmental impact, energy conservation, home comfort, aesthetics, maintenance and most importantly, economics.

One major advantage of GSHP systems that is overlooked by most is their power to act as a safeguard against inflationary energy prices. It is relatively easy to show that as energy prices go up, GSHP systems become more and more economically attractive while retaining all of their aforementioned benefits.

To do such calculations, we first need to know the amount of energy contained in a given amount of electricity, natural gas, propane, or heating oil, as shown at right.