How do conventional air to air heat pumps compare to geothermal?
Geothermal is not affected by outside seasonal temperature changes. Geothermal will give you free hot water all summer and this is not show in the EER rating. Air to air units use a noisy outdoor condensing unit which requires high maintenance and has a short life cycle. Geothermal uses a below ground vertical loop field which requires no maintenance and should last over 100 years. Air temperature from a geothermal unit is much warmer than a conventional heat pump, with a temperature ranging from 95 to 105F. The life cycle of a geothermal unit is twice that of a conventional system.
