Explain in a scientific manner how a geothermal heat pump warms and cools your home?
A geothermal heatpump works by transferring heat from the working fluid to or from the ground. In the summer the heat from your house is transferred to the working fluid, usually water and a glycol, in the main furnace box. It travels out into the ground and since the ground is cooler the fluid is cooled and returned to the house to absorb more heat. In the winter it's same but reversed. now the ground is wamer than the fluid from the house so it's warmed. Geothermal works just like and air heatpump but instead or an air to fluid heat exchange it's ground to fluid. Of course air heatpumps don't work real well in really cold temps so they have a electrical heater backup. Not sure if geothermals typically have backup or not since the earth is a much more stable resevoir. If you want a really scientific explaination you could find a whole section on reefer cycles in a thermodynamics book.
