Most conventional water-source geothermal systems are presently closed-loop systems, as open-loop systems can cause bacterial ground-water contamination and are prohibited in various states. Closed-loop water-source systems require three heat transfer steps, namely, (1) ground to water; (2) water to refrigerant; and (3) refrigerant to air (vice-versa in the cooling mode). Further, water-source systems require the operation of a water pump, and generally require about 150' to 250' of drilling depth/length per ton of system design capacity. In comparison, the ETA system requires only two heat transfer steps, namely, (1) ground to refrigerant; and (2) refrigerant to air (vice-versa in the cooling mode), and does not require any water pump operation (or any water pump maintenance). ETA systems generally only require about 100' to 125' of drilling depth/length per ton of system design capacity (one ETA's prototype unit heated and cooled a home for one year with a 74' per ton drilling depth). Further, the ETA system operates on higher sub-surface temperature differentials than closed-loop water-source systems, which augments the rate of advantageous geothermal heat transfer. Thus, the ETA system is typically more efficient to operate, and is less expensive to install, than conventional water-source system designs. In effect, the owner can generally receive a more efficient system, at a lower cost, with less maintenance requirements.

The basic concept for the ETA system is far from new, as the ETA design incorporates the same basic concepts and components (although uniquely and proprietarily sized and applied) utilized in virtually all refrigerant and air-conditioning systems. ETA has uniquely applied proven concepts to utilize the constant temperatures of the earth to provide a super-efficient and reliable system operation. ETA has dramatically improved predecessor DX designs that have provided proven results via thousands of installations from Maine to California , and from Florida to Alaska , for well over 15 years.

There are several answers to this question. First, larger companies are focused on traditional designs and are generally not aware of the newer, reverse-cycle, direct expansion ("DX") systems, which have only been marketed on a very limited basis for about 15 years. Second, older, first generation, horizontal field, DX technology required a great deal of land area for system installation, which severally limited the available market and hindered general market acceptance (the ETA design only requires one to three 6" diameter holes for a two ton through a five ton system). Third, there were legitimate concerns over lack of compressor oil return (and resulting premature compressor failure) in older, first generation DX horizontal field system designs, including a few relatively shallow (50' to 100' deep) vertical designs. ETA has totally solved and eliminated the oil return concern via the addition of a patent-pending oil separator component that prevents oil from traveling into the sub-surface tubing in the first instance. Fourth, the copper refrigerant transport tubing could not be accessible in older, first generation, DX designs. ETA's copper refrigerant tubing is optionally 100% accessible for servicing if ever required. Fifth, larger companies have significant investments in conventional designs and inventories, and it may not seem prudent, when considering near-term stock price effects, to render such resources obsolete. Sixth, DX designs generally have very low maintenance requirements, which factor could cut into conventional system replacement, service, and parts revenues. Seventh, older, first generation, DX designs were not able to achieve the ultra-high efficiencies attained and documented via the new, second generation, ETA designs. Thus, the immediate and long-term benefits of first generation DX systems were not as significant and readily apparent as via the new ETA technology.

The ETA system is a state-of-the-art, high tech, sophisticated system that requires a sub-surface installation component. The sub-surface component involves additional installation time and expense. However, as a result of the tremendous monthly savings in heating/cooling costs afforded by the ETA system, it is virtually always the best value equipment you can own.

When one incorporates the operational savings provided by the ETA system into a cost/savings analysis, the ETA system will typically always prove to be the least expensive system available, bar none, to heat and cool a home. The initial cost may be higher because you are purchasing a geothermal system that is believed to be the best, top-of-the-line, system available, which does require a sub-surface installation expense. However, the system provides quick paybacks, incredible savings, and extremely high comfort levels. When the initial additional cost is amortized over the life of a mortgage, because of the more than off-setting savings in your utility bills, you will typically begin saving money day one, week one, month one, and year one. As energy costs increase, you save even more. Also, in many areas, high-efficiency geothermal system rebates may be available from the local utility company.

No. All ETA systems are designed to operate with the new R-410A, environmentally friendly, refrigerant that poses no threat to the earth's upper ozone layer (R-410A is also non-hazardous to the earth's sub-surface). Thus, the ETA system will neither have to be replaced nor retrofitted as the production of R-22 is being phased out.

Copper is a noble metal and is non-corrosive in most soil conditions. In fact, copper has been commonly used for decades in water lines connecting homes to the water main until copper was eventually replaced by less expensive plastic lines. Extremely old copper piping has reportedly been found in Middle Eastern areas that had been installed before Noah's flood. Further, the sub-surface refrigerant transport tubing in the ETA system is additionally required to be surrounded by a special protective, heat conductive, shell when in potentially corrosive environments, which provides a shield against damage.

The ETA system utilizes the new R-410A refrigerant, which, unlike its predecessor R-22 (freon), is not a potential hazard to the earth's upper atmospheric ozone layer. Basically, R-410A is a stable gas and is listed as a non-hazardous waste on its Material Safety Data Sheet. Thus, even though the migration of R-410A into the ground is highly unlikely via the ETA sub-surface encasement design, if there was some migration, it would not pose any environmental or safety concerns.

Generally, there will be no sub-surface operational refrigerant leaks, as the lines are fully pressure tested prior to actual system operation. An optional extended warranty is available regarding the sub-surface lines. In the alternative, upon request, for a modest additional cost, a separate copper line containment pipe can be inserted into the borehole. Thus, if the lines should ever require servicing, they can simply be pulled out of the fluid-filled containment pipe, repaired, and re-inserted without the necessity of re-drilling. This is a unique, patent-pending, optional feature which no other known geothermal system provides.

Since the ETA system does not incorporate an outdoor unit that is exposed to the atmospheric elements, and since the ETA system routinely operates on a much lower power draw than conventional equipment, the ETA system is likely to far outlast a conventional heat pump system or a conventional air-conditioning unit. First generation DX designs have been operating in excess of 10 years that have never required service work or a compressor change. This is of even greater significance near the seashore where salt-water air can rather quickly destroy exposed, conventional, outdoor equipment.

Gas and other fossil fuels are actually burned in a furnace to create the heat that circulates throughout a home or business. The burning of these fossil fuels typically creates poisonous emission gases that must be exhausted through flue pipes. A leak in one of these exhaust pipes can result in the emission of dangerous and/or poisonous gases into the home or other interior area, much the same as those emitted by a car exhaust system. Further, fossil fuels can be explosive, and multiple explosions typically occur annually in fossil fuel heated homes that result in property damage, injury, and/or death. The ETA system is typically far more efficient and less expensive to operate than a fossil fuel based unit, has no open flame, has no dangerous emission gases, is safe, and is environmentally friendly.

Unfortunately, since conventional air-source heat pumps are dependent on available atmospheric temperatures for their primary heat source, as the outdoor air temperatures fall, so does their ability to provide warm feeling air. Because of this cool-feeling air supply, many people are willing to live with, and risk, potential oil or gas heat related safety hazards, just to obtain air that feels warmer than the air provided by conventional air-source heat pumps. However, the air temperatures produced by conventional older gas furnaces are hot, and can actually create a noticeable stratification of air temperatures in the home or business. This means the air near the floor is generally colder than the air near the ceiling, because the warmer air rises (much like a hot-air balloon).

Additionally, since fossil fuel furnaces must expend a large amount of energy to heat up the plenum when the system is turned on, thermostats are typically set to allow the interior temperature to drop approximately 2 degrees F in the home or business before the system is activated. This all contributes to the hot/cold temperature cycles sensed in fossil fuel heated homes. The newer, more expensive, fossil fuel systems attempt to provide heated air in the 105-110 degree F range, so as to help eliminate the worst of the hot/cold symptoms, and try to extract more heat from the fuel and reject less heat up the exhaust flue, but they still often require the minimum 2 degree F temperature drop before engagement, they are still potentially dangerous, and they still can dry out the interior air to the point of becoming undesirable. The heated air temperature provided by the ETA system always comes from naturally occurring sub-surface temperatures, which, at depths exceeding 100 feet, is typically in the 50 to 60 degree F range%u2026no matter what the temperature of the outdoor air. The heat acquired, for free from the earth, is absorbed by the circulating refrigerant fluid, which vapor fluid is compressed so as to raise the temperature in excess of 100 degrees F. This heated refrigerant transfers its heat to the air in your home, generally providing a very comfortable and warm feeling temperature, which is not as uncomfortably hot as gas or oil, but which is not as uncomfortably cool as that periodically provided via an air-source heat pump. Further, since there is no open flame/burning requirement, the warmed air supplied by the ETA system is not uncomfortably dried out.

All conventional air-source heat pumps require some method of energy consuming defrost cycle or de-frost means. A "de-frost cycle" is generally a polite way of telling you that your heat pump is being operated in the cooling (air-conditioning) mode in the winter so as to send hot refrigerant vapor into the exterior air-source heat exchange tubing to melt the ice build-up from frozen air moisture condensation, all while the heat your system is removing from your home is being replaced by expensive electric resistance or fossil fuel heat (this is typically one of the reasons your heating bills are very high when it is very cold). Further, operation in the de-frost cycle is typically hard on the system's compressor, and helps contribute to more frequent service calls and to eventual compressor failure. The ETA system has no defrost cycle. Thus, the above-mentioned problems, typically associated with air-source heat pumps, are non-existent with the ETA design. This translates into lower heating bills, lower service bills, and longer compressor life.

Older, first generation, DX systems typically required about 500 square feet of available surface area per ton of horizontal system design capacity, or multiple vertical holes necessarily only 100 feet, or less, in depth, which could impair one's ability to install a swimming pool or to otherwise utilize a significant portion of their yard. The ETA system, however, typically only requires one to three 4" to 6" diameter vertical boreholes per entire 1.5 to 5 ton system. These drilled holes can be located in the back yard, the front yard, or the side yard, and realistically impose virtually no burden on your available land area. The ETA system operates on free and renewable geothermal heat temperature exchanges occurring at depths extending from below the frost line to 300 feet. Thus, the ETA system is not dependent on accessibility to large surface areas, and does not require a large number of multiple vertical boreholes.

While the installation of sub-surface heat exchange tubing was not recommended via the first generation, horizontal field, DX system design because of potentially severe near-surface expansion/contraction effects, with the new ETA Deep Well Direct Expansion system, the underground heat exchange tubing can be installed either directly below, or adjacent to, a reinforced concrete slab.

The answer to this question is no, if the system has been properly sized and installed. The ETA system is designed to produce more than its rated capacity at its design load, so as to provide a safety margin of operation. The system is intended to operate with a "duty cycle." When the system satisfies the thermostat setting, the ETA unit automatically turns itself off. This provides time for the area immediately surrounding the sub-surface heat transfer tubing to recover a satisfactory level of naturally occurring, and renewable, temperature from the surrounding ground without excessively raising or lowering the temperature of the geothermal surroundings in the proximate vicinity of the heat exchange tubing.

No. The ETA design is a closed loop, self-contained, system. There are no annual flue cleaning requirements, there are no annual gas/oil burner safety checks, and there are no pilot light/ignition concerns. Naturally, air-filters must be periodically cleaned/changed within the home or business as necessary, but this is based upon the amount of dust in the interior space, not upon the ETA system's operation. The system should only require minimal service and maintenance, generally far less than most conventional system designs. While it is recommended that your ETA system be periodically checked, and that your air handler be periodically cleaned, any actual service/repair work should be minimal.

While at first blush, the answer would appear to be yes, in fact the answer is no. Many electric utilities have "peaking" problems that occur during hot weather in the summer and during cold weather in the winter. These peaking problems are typically caused by higher than normal energy demands caused by weather extremes. Since utilities only have a fixed amount of power available, during above-capacity demand periods, they must either impose rolling brownouts/blackouts, and/or build expensive extra generation facilities to handle the peaks (which extra generation facilities otherwise sit unused), and/or they must buy extra and expensive energy from others, which often contributes to rate increases. Thus, electric utilities would prefer to eliminate peaking concerns, as peaking typically results in a less profitable operation and in customer dissatisfaction. To help eliminate peaking concerns, many utilities have adopted "demand-side management programs," designed to encourage the use of more efficient electrical systems. Many utilities even offer cash rebates for customers who elect to utilize high-efficiency geothermal heating/cooling systems. This is because it is less expensive for the utility to lower its existing power demands than it is for the utility to build new generating facilities to service only periodic increased use. Since the ETA system's exterior heat exchange source is always relatively constant, and is not subject to widely fluctuating atmospheric extremes, the ETA system's compressor is generally not subject to extremely high, or to extremely low, refrigerant pressure conditions. As a result, the ETA system's compressor is able to coast along on a very low, and relatively constant, energy draw, which materially helps to eliminate utility peaking problems. The ETA system has been satisfactorily tested as per ARI Standard 870 so as to qualify for high-efficiency re-bates offered by many electrical utility companies, which can be an added plus for ETA clients. Further, all ETA systems have passed all ETL safety tests, including testing pursuant to UL 1995 in the heating mode, in the cooling mode, and a dielectric voltage withstand test.

No. In fact, the ETA system uses typical 50 to 70 F earth to remove heat from the refrigerant in the cooling mode. Air-source heat pumps must typically must rely on 80 to 90 F outside air to remove heat from teh refrigerant. Thus, the refrigerant in an ETA system is typically colder and further below the dewpoint, resulting in the removal of significantly more humidity than conventional system designs.