page_title: Geothermal heat pump
section_title: Differing terms and definitions
hierarchical_section_title: Geothermal heat pump / Differing terms and definitions
caption_attribution_description: English: A picture which appears to show heat exchange pipes entering and exiting the ground
context_page_description: A geothermal heat pump or ground source heat pump is a central heating and/or cooling system that transfers heat to or from the ground.
  It uses the earth all the time, without any intermittency, as a heat source or a heat sink. This design takes advantage of the moderate temperatures in the ground to boost efficiency and reduce the operational costs of heating and cooling systems, and may be combined with solar heating to form a geosolar system with even greater efficiency. They are also known by other names, including geoexchange, earth-coupled, earth energy systems. The engineering and scientific communities prefer the terms "geoexchange" or "ground source heat pumps" to avoid confusion with traditional geothermal power, which uses a high temperature heat source to generate electricity. Ground source heat pumps harvest heat absorbed at the Earth's surface from solar energy. The temperature in the ground below 6 metres is roughly equal to the local mean annual air temperature.
context_section_description: Some confusion exists with regard to the terminology of heat pumps and the use of the term "geothermal". "Geothermal" derives from the Greek and means "Earth heat" – which geologists and many laymen understand as describing hot rocks, volcanic activity or heat derived from deep within the earth. Though some confusion arises when the term "geothermal" is also used to apply to temperatures within the first 100 metres of the surface, this is "Earth heat" all the same, though it is largely influenced by stored energy from the sun.
caption: Ground source heating and cooling
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