How does a geothermal heat pump heat and cool a building?

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1. 1

   Ground source heat pump (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaPublished Oct 10, 2026Checked Oct 11, 2026

   “A ground source heat pump (also geothermal heat pump) is a heating/cooling system for buildings that use a heat pump to transfer heat to or from the ground, taking advantage of the relative constancy of temperatures of the earth through the seasons. Ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs)—or geothermal heat pumps (GHPs), as they are commonly termed in North America—are among the most energy-efficient technologies for providing HVAC and water heating, using less energy than that consumed by resistive electric heaters. Efficiency is given as a coefficient of performance (CoP) which is typically in the range 3–6, meaning that the devices provide 3–6 units of heat for each unit of electricity used. Setup costs are higher than for other heating systems due to the requirement of installing ground loops over large areas or of drilling bore holes. Air-source heat pumps have lower set-up costs but have a lower CoP in very cold or very hot weather.”

2. 2

   Geothermal heating (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaPublished Oct 6, 2026Checked Oct 11, 2026

   “Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for some heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ of geothermal heating in 2004. As of 2007, 28 GW of geothermal heating capacity is installed around the world, satisfying 0.07% of global primary energy consumption. Thermal efficiency is high since no energy conversion is needed, but capacity factors tend to be low (around 20%) since the heat is mostly needed in the winter. Geothermal energy originates from the heat retained within the Earth since the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, and from solar energy absorbed at the surface. Most high temperature geothermal heat is harvested in regions close to tectonic plate boundaries where volcanic activity rises close to the surface of the Earth. In these areas, ground and groundwater can be found with temperatures higher than the target temperature of the application. However, even cold ground contains heat.”

3. 3

   Geothermal heat pumps and thermal energy networks: Technical feasibility and market adoption.

   iScience (Simpson et al.)Published Sep 9, 2026Checked Oct 11, 2026

   “Geothermal technologies, including geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) and thermal energy networks (TENs), are gaining traction as methods to efficiently meet heating and cooling loads. Changes to costs and incentives may impact adoption and can help support decision-making in effectively deploying GHPs and TENs. In this work, the updated distributed geothermal market demand (dGeo) model is used to analyze scenarios across the US demonstrating a range of economic potential and adoption for GHPs and TENs. We find that the more established GHP technology has widespread economic potential and adoption, while the newer TEN technology has economic potential and adoption concentrated in areas with dense populations. GHP adoption was projected to 251 GW-th by 2050 with high incentives and tax credits, while TEN adoption was projected at 31 GW-th by 2050. Uncertainties in cost structure translate to large variations in adoption, pointing to the importance of demonstration projects and cost-tracking efforts.”