Introduction

Whole Systems Approach to Ecological Design

Appropriate Technology: Water

Organic Agriculture and Local Food

Appropriate Technology: Energy

Green Building & Retrofitting

Ground Source Heat Pump

A ground source coupled (or geothermal) heat pump is simply a small refrigerator, which is arranged to cool a large amount of ground slightly and deliver that heat in a “concentrated” or high temperature form to provide the central heating in a house. 

In the cooling cycle, the system works in reverse – heating the ground and cooling the house.  In the summer the air conditioning is energised by the heat pump and in the winter the heated earth is cooled.  In some regions both heating and cooling (or dehumidification) are required, which is ideal for this technology.

For the heating cycle, the energy taken from the ground during the winter to heat a residence is replaced by solar energy, which falls on the ground throughout the year. The energy moved, or “pumped”, from the ground is natural “renewable” energy.This ground, or “earth” energy is tapped by circulating water from the well or coil in the ground.

The cooling of the circulating water by the heat pump causes heat energy to flow from the warmer earth surrounding the well or coil to the circulating water. The heat pump then transfers this heat energy into the building’s heating system, which in turn warms the house.

What makes this process of recycling stored solar energy from the ground so economical is that little electricity in the heat pump compressor is used to transfer considerable heat energy from the ground to the house.  Heat pumps can deliver up to four times the energy used by the compressor.

• Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
• Ground Source Heat Pump – for the heating and cooling of buildings
• More on Geothermal Energy

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