Geothermal Heating Systems

Geothermal Heating

Geothermal heating systems use heat pump technology to extract renewable heat energy from the ground to provide heating for homes, offices or other buildings. While temperatures above ground level will fluctuate wildly depending on weather conditions, time of year and time of day the ground temperature below the immediate surface layer remains remarkably constant. The core of earth below the earth crust is in fact superheated. This heat is gradually dissipated through the earths crust and this provides a limitless renewable source of low level heat energy that can be tapped into by using a geothermal heat pump system sometimes called a ground source heat pump.

A geothermal heat pump system uses a loop or slinky of polyethylene pipe (like the pipe used to supply mains water) that is buried in the ground around the building to be heated. If there is not enough land around the building, the ground source loop can be installed by drilling a borehole directly down into the earth which can be anything up to 300 feet deep. A mixture of water and antifreeze mixture (which has been chilled to be much cooler than the ground temperature) is then then pumped through the ground geothermal heating loop. Geothermal heat energy is thermodynamically absorbed from the ground into the chilled liquid as it passes through the ground loop. The liquid emerges from the ground loop just a few degrees warmer than when it entered the loop due to the heat energy that has been absorbed from the ground. The buildings heat requirements need to be carefully sized up to work out how many geothermal loops will be required to supply the required heat. It is possible that to have several geothermal heating loops or boreholes running in parallel if a single loop is insufficient.

The extra heat energy is then extracted from the warmed liquid using standard refridgerator technology of a compresser and an expansion valve. The refridgeration process causes the liquid to be re-chilled, ready for another circuit of the geothermal heating loop. In a refridgerator the heat extracted from inside the refridgerator is waste heat that is dispersed from the cooling unit on the back. In a geothermal heating system the extracted heat is harnessed to provide heating for the building. Of course electricity is needed to power the heat extraction process process howvere the returns ratio of free heat is aboutr 4 to 1, i.e. on a well installed system appoximately 4 Kw of useful renewable heat energy is produced for each Kw of electrical energy used in the heat extraction process.

Residential geothermal heating systems are becoming increasingly popular because geothermal heating costs are far lower than traditional heating systems after the system has been installed. These reduced heating costs can add signicant value to a home's value at resale. With energy prices expected to rise above inflation for the foreseeable future the value of geothermal energy is certain to rise in future. There is a one off hit in installation costs though as geothermal systems usually cost more to buy and install than traditional heating systems, but with a a 4:1 ratio of heat energy produced to electrical energy consumed, the savings in heating costs will often cover service a loan used to buy the system. Government subsidies may be available to reduce the up front costs. Quite apart from the financial savings there are also significant environmental benefits in the form of reduced CO2 emmisions and reduced dependency on imported fossil fuels.

Geothermal Heating and Cooling

One of the benefits of this type of system is that it can be installed to provide both geothermal heating and cooling, so if your building needs air-conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter then a geothermal system can provide reduced running costs on both. Basically the system gets reversed in the summer so geothermal heat pump extracts heat energy from the building and used to heat the geothermal loop liquid. The heated liquid is then pumped through the geothermal loop, releaseing heat energy into the ground. The liquid in the loop emerges a few few degrees cooler when the the geothermal system is being used.


Geothermal Heating Systems Geothermal Heating Geothermal heating systems use heat pump technology to extract renewable heat energy from the ground to provide heating for homes, offices or other buildings. While temperatures above ground level will fluctuate wildly depending on weather conditions, time of year and time of day the ground temperature below the immediate surface layer remains remarkably constant. The core of earth below the earth crust is in fact superheated. This heat is gradually dissipated through the earths crust and this provides a limitless renewable source of low level heat energy that can be tapped into by using a geothermal heat pump system sometimes called a ground source heat pump. A geothermal heat pump system uses a loop or slinky of polyethylene pipe (like the pipe used to supply mains water) that is buried in the ground around the building to be heated. If there is not enough land around the building, the ground source loop can be installed by drilling a borehole directly down into the earth which can be anything up to 300 feet deep. A mixture of water and antifreeze mixture (which has been chilled to be much cooler than the ground temperature) is then then pumped through the ground geothermal heating loop. Geothermal heat energy is thermodynamically absorbed from the ground into the chilled liquid as it passes through the ground loop. The liquid emerges from the ground loop just a few degrees warmer than when it entered the loop due to the heat energy that has been absorbed from the ground. The buildings heat requirements need to be carefully sized up to work out how many geothermal loops will be required to supply the required heat. It is possible that to have several geothermal heating loops or boreholes running in parallel if a single loop is insufficient. The extra heat energy is then extracted from the warmed liquid using standard refridgerator technology of a compresser and an expansion valve. The refridgeration process causes the liquid to be re-chilled, ready for another circuit of the geothermal heating loop. In a refridgerator the heat extracted from inside the refridgerator is waste heat that is dispersed from the cooling unit on the back. In a geothermal heating system the extracted heat is harnessed to provide heating for the building. Of course electricity is needed to power the heat extraction process process howvere the returns ratio of free heat is aboutr 4 to 1, i.e. on a well installed system appoximately 4 Kw of useful renewable heat energy is produced for each Kw of electrical energy used in the heat extraction process. Residential geothermal heating systems are becoming increasingly popular because geothermal heating costs are far lower than traditional heating systems after the system has been installed. These reduced heating costs can add signicant value to a home's value at resale. With energy prices expected to rise above inflation for the foreseeable future the value of geothermal energy is certain to rise in future. There is a one off hit in installation costs though as geothermal systems usually cost more to buy and install than traditional heating systems, but with a a 4:1 ratio of heat energy produced to electrical energy consumed, the savings in heating costs will often cover service a loan used to buy the system. Government subsidies may be available to reduce the up front costs. Quite apart from the financial savings there are also significant environmental benefits in the form of reduced CO2 emmisions and reduced dependency on imported fossil fuels. Geothermal Heating and Cooling One of the benefits of this type of system is that it can be installed to provide both geothermal heating and cooling, so if your building needs air-conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter then a geothermal system can provide reduced running costs on both. Basically the system gets reversed in the summer so geothermal heat pump extracts heat energy from the building and used to heat the geothermal loop liquid. The heated liquid is then pumped through the geothermal loop, releaseing heat energy into the ground. The liquid in the loop emerges a few few degrees cooler when the the geothermal system is being used.
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