Ground heat pump how does it work

You can understand more and change your cookies preferences here. In this article. A ground source heat pump system harnesses natural heat from underground by pumping water through it in pipes. The heat pump then increases the temperature, and the heat is used to provide home heating or hot water.

They need electricity to run, but the idea is that they use less electrical energy than the heat they produce. The pump performs the same role as a boiler in a central heating system.

But it uses ambient heat from the ground, rather than burning fuel to generate heat. Read on to find out more on how a ground source heat pump works, and to see whether it's right for your home. Ground source heat pump systems are made up of a ground loop a network of water pipes buried underground and a heat pump at ground level. A mixture of water and anti-freeze is pumped around the ground loop and absorbs the naturally occurring heat stored in the ground.

The water mixture is compressed and goes through a heat exchanger, which extracts the heat and transfers it to the heat pump. The heat is then transferred to your home heating system. You'll need plenty of space for the system to be installed - generally a garden that's accessible for digging machinery. How big the ground loop needs to be depends on how big your home is and how much heat you need. They are very different from combustion appliances, such as furnaces, stoves, and boilers, which create heat by burning natural gas, propane, fuel oil, or wood.

In heating mode, the heat pump removes heat from the ground or body of water through a circulating fluid and then transferring heat to a building. In both cases, GSHPs use electricity to operate a compressor and pump to facilitate this heat transfer.

Heat pumps are considered a partially renewable energy technology. The energy harvested from the ground in the winter is replaced by the sun in the summer, thus the resource is renewable. Using the system for cooling also transfers heat back to the ground in the summer. The electricity used to operate the compressor and pump may not be from renewable sources unless renewable energy is purchased from a utility i. If used for heating, then the heat source is the ground; if used for cooling, the heat source is the building and the ground is a heat sink.

The loops can be buried in the ground vertically or horizontally in various configurations. Loops can also be placed in a water body. Both the ground loop and the distribution system are connected to the heat pump , with which they exchange heat. Depending on the type you opt for, ground source heat pump prices can vary. Next we are going to see what role each of the components plays. The heat pump is the core element of the ground source heat pump system.

It consists of four parts, each of them with a very specific task. Aris is a passionate author and marketer with an educational background in journalism. He continuously writes, reviews, and educates himself in the areas of business, finance, and renewable energy. He and his content team have been featured on reputable sites like GreenPeace, Guardian, iNews, Gizmodo, and more. We use cookie to give you the best browsing experience. We and our partners use cookies on our website to improve your browsing experience, personalize content and ads, provide social media features, and analyze our traffic.

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