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Employing Ground Source Heat Pumps for Energy
Ground source heat pumps give a rather low-cost and eco friendly way to use spare heat from the earth for heating and cooling both residential and industrial structures. Starting set-up costs can be quite a lot higher than typical air-source systems, but geothermal heat pumps deliver greatly lower ownership costs over the long run. Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) are units that utilize the earth?s temperature to give heating, cooling and hot water for commercial establishments and houses. The systems are developed to make use of the fact that temperatures stay at a nearly constant level of between 7 C and 21 C just a few feet beneath the ground, irrespective of geographic area or surface air temperatures. Throughout winter, the devices essentially draw out heat from the ground and shift it to a commercial building or residence, while in summer the systems draw out heat from building interiors and transport it to the ground. Ground source heat pumps are electrically driven and are often referred to as geothermal heat pumps, or geo-exchange pumps, or merely as earth-coupled heat pumps. A full-fledged GSHP system comprises of a heat pump, a ground loop system for absorbing heat from the ground or rejecting it back to the ground, and air ducts or radiant floor systems for providing the hot or cold air. The ground loop system normally consists of many loops of plastic tubing loaded with antifreeze liquid or water, buried under the ground in horizontal or vertical style. Through winter, the liquid in the loops gathers heat from the earth and shoves it to the heat pump when a compressor boosts the temperature even more before circulating it throughout the building. The movement of the liquid inside the loops is reversed throughout summer. This results in the warmer air being drawn out from the building and transferred to the earth while cooler liquid is circulated back to the heat pump and then all the way through the building. An open loop system performs in more or less the same fashion, but in this case the liquid in the loops is usually ejected into the earth. Ground source heat pumps have been used since the 1940s and are regarded as a more eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative to regular air-transfer based heating and cooling systems. Studies have demonstrated that GSHP systems have heating efficiencies up to 70% higher than traditional systems and cooling efficiencies of nearly 40% more than air-conditioners. The initial cost of setting up a geothermal heat pump can be quite steep compared to traditional heating and cooling systems. Even so, over the long term the pumps are less expensive to own and to maintain. They also can deliver up to 50% savings on energy use. In most cases, a geothermal heat pump is put in along with an air-source heat pump as a way to cut down initial installation costs. Learn more info about Ground Source Heat Pumps
