The term geothermal means Earth / Ground Heat. How does geothermal heat pump work? Geothermal, or ground source heat pumps, use the continual ground or groundwater temperatures. These heat pumps use geothermal energy to heat and / or chill your home.
A refrigerant loop with a compressor extracts heat from one side ( the ground ) and pumps it to the heating loop in your house. It is pretty much the same process that occurs in your chiller : heat is extracted through a compressor and refrigerant loop from the inside of your chiller / freezer and defied into your home.
In the summer the geothermal heat pump reverses its cycle, if you’ve got an air-conditioning system, and heat from the home is rejected into the ground or ground water.
What makes geothermal heat pumps such a good choice for residential heating and cooling is that they do not depend on outside air temperatures.
Explain geothermal heatpumps advantages. Provided naturally, that your house is well insulated and tight.
They use 25-50% less energy than conventional heating and cooling systems ( Source : US DOE ).
Home applications of geothermal energy systems use water-to-water or water-to-air heat pumps.
Water-to-Water Geothermal Heat Pumps
Water-to-water geothermal heat pumps are often used for heating only. They replace the gas or oil furnace that you may currently have to heat your home and water with.
It is important to understand that heat pumps work most effectively when the temperature difference between the heat source ( ground ) and heat sink ( floor heat or radiators ) is small.
This means that geothermal heat pumps are sometimes not suitable for standard hot water baseboard applications, which are made for heating water temperatures of 180 degF. Floor heat and low-temperature radiators require water temperatures in the range of 95 to 140 degF.
Some newer heat pump models are now supplied with so-called desuperheaters that will transfer excess heat from the geothermal heat pump compressor to the domestic water heater.
Water-To-Air Geothermal Heat Pumps
The Water is the heat sink, where you reject the heat from the house.
Otherwise, these heat pumps function the same way as water-to-water heat pumps. And again, the potency of a geothermal heating and cooling system is far better of a conventional system.
Crucial to Know
step 1 towards making a geothermal heat pump system be a reliable and efficient heating ( and cooling ) system for your home is to reduce the heating and cooling requirements with a well-insulated building envelope and strategically placed windows for passive solar gain.
Not only is your first cost reduced, because your system will be smaller. You may also tremendously increase the comfort of your house.
Geothermal heat pump systems are best designed and installed by professionals. These systems must meet express wants. Especially the piping laid out in the ground, or down to the ground water table, must be designed and installed properly to make sure that your geothermal heat pump system works as intended.
How does geothermal work, do you want to know? This is an killer opportunity to discover the best heat pumps for you.