A A A

Tube, Pipe & Fittings

Environmental Savings from DX Geothermal Heat Pumps

Geothermal heat pump systems represent the state of the art in home heating/cooling technology. According to a consortium backed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), high-efficiency geothermal heat pumps are the most efficient, least costly and most environmentally friendly way to heat and cool your home. On average, they are 48% more efficient than the best gas furnaces and more than 75% more efficient than oil furnaces.¹

Widespread use of DX systems will reduce our national energy consumption and benefit the environment. About 19% of America's total energy consumption is used for home heating and cooling. Another 16% is used to heat and cool commercial buildings. That's a total of more than 30 quads of energy, or about the amount of energy contained in 14 million barrels of imported oil per day over an entire year. If every U.S. home and commercial building were equipped with a DX/GC heat pump, we'd save about as much oil as the U.S. imported in 1994.² That's not a realistic goal, of course, but it does give an idea of the amount of energy involved.

Installing energy-efficient DX systems is one important means by which we can maintain a clean environment. Heating and cooling U.S. homes and commercial buildings accounts for about 26% of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions - plus other potentially harmful gases such as NOx and methane. The more efficiently we consume energy, the lower will be the emission of those gasesit's that simple. In fact, according to the International Energy Agency Heat Pump Centre heat pumps can cut global CO2 emissions by more than 6%.

Because no fuels are burned in the home, heat pumps eliminate the hazards of backdrafts and spillage as well as local emissions of toxic, ozone destroying greenhouse gases produced by fossil-fueled heating systems. It's better for our environment to burn fossil fuels at electric generating stations under tight, state of the art environmental controls.

Combustion-based heating systems, such as natural gas and oil, often waste up to 35 percent of usable heat energy through the flue exhaust....energy that never warms you, even though you pay for it.

DIY Video Podcasts

Soldering Preparation

View More Videos

Building & Architecture News

October '11: The Fall issue focuses on the benefits of copper at healthcare institutions. Read about a new copper HVAC system that makes AC systems more energy efficient; a medical campus that relies on copper for their state-of-the-art information network; copper trends in building and construction projects; how copper provides shielding for MRI systems to improve accuracy, and the importance of copper to ensure cleanliness, reliability and efficiency in medical gas systems.

Highlights

Learn about copper's 50-year warranty program

CDA Tube, Pipe and Fittings Council members:

Industry News: Selection of recent copper tube, pipe and fittings industry developments, technology advances, etc to keep you up to date.

The entire Copper Tube Handbook can be downloaded in pdf format [6 Mb].