Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. is venturing into another territory that may just make heating and cooling homes cleaner and more affordable. Dandelion can bring geothermal energy right into people's homes.
Geothermal Energy At Home
Dandelion is literally bringing geothermal energy to people's doorsteps, except they are taking it a step further by also bringing the renewable energy source inside homes and under the yard in a more efficient and convenient manner.
Born from Alphabet Inc.'s unit X, Dandelion is now working as an independent company which aims to provide geothermal heating and cooling directly into people's homes.
In 2004, buildings and residential homes in the United States emitted 2,236 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which accounts for 39 percent of the country's total emissions. This is in large part due to the buildings' cooling and heating units which often utilize energy from the combustion of fossil fuels.
It is not just harmful to the environment, it is also quite costly. This is where Dandelion comes in.
Essentially, Dandelion aims to bring geothermal energy literally under people's homes where the system could provide ample cooling and heating system that is renewable and a lot less costly compared to traditional fuel-based systems.
How Dandelion Works
Dandelion's geothermal system works by utilizing the natural energy contained in the ground under buildings and homes to heat its interior in wintertime and reduce the heat in the summertime.
In winter, water circulating through the system's underground plastic pipes absorbs heat from the ground and is turned into warm air by the geothermal heat pump inside the home. In contrast, the same geothermal heat pump would absorb the warm air inside the home during summertime and disperse the heat into the earth.
Less Destructive Installation
One might think that such a system sounds like it would cause quite a bit of damage to the yard in which it will be installed. Not only that, it would probably be costly because of the huge installation. Well, Dandelion thought that too, so it has also tried and tested many different methods to install the system without doing much damage to the property, and at a less costly manner.
The company has designed a slender drill which would only drill the holes that it actually needs, which are actually just two deep holes at a few inches in diameter. Compared to traditional installation methods, Dandelion evidently produces less waste; is less destructive to homes; requires less space to work and may be installed in less than a day as opposed to the usual three or four-day installation.
This process doesn't just make installation more convenient, it also cuts on homeowners' costs for landscaping.
Dandelion is currently focusing on homes in the northeastern United States and is working on the homes of clients in the state of New York.
