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What is the difference between air source, geothermal and water source heat pumps?

April 26, 2017air difference Geothermal heat pumps source water

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What is the difference between air source, geothermal and water source heat pumps?

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Instead of using the surrounding air, a geothermal heat pump uses the energy from the ground. Similarly, a water source heat pump uses water (a pond, lake or the ocean) as an energy source. Probably the most basic is the difference between the temperature of the heat source and the temperature at which the heat is delivered. The larger this difference, the lower the efficiency. For the ground source heat pump, the temperature of the ground is warmer than the air during the coldest part of the winter and colder than the air during milder weather in the spring and parts of the fall. One of the most important characteristics of heat pumps, particularly in the context of home heating/cooling, is that the efficiency of the unit and the energy required to operate it are directly related to the temperatures between which is operates. In heat pump terminology, the difference between the temperature where the heat is absorbed (the “source”) and the temperature where the heat is delivered (the “