Conventional heat pumps heat homes and buildings by extracting heat from the outside air. In summer months, heat pumps function as air conditioners by reversing the process. Unfortunately, heat pumps are trying to provide heat when the air is coldest outside and to cool when the air is hottest. Thus, in very cold and very hot weather, conventional heat pumps do not operate efficiently.The Geothermal Heat PumpGeothermal heat pumps offer another solution to heat and cool homes and commercial buildings. Instead of exchanging heat with air, these heat pumps exchange heat with the ground or a source of water. This gives geothermal heat pumps a significant efficiency advantage over conventional heat pumps because the ground and water sources are more thermally inert than air. What this means is