Archive for July 15th, 2010

Utilising Ground Source Heat Pumps for Power

Ground source heat pumps give a comparatively low-cost and environmentally friendly method to use spare heat from the earth for heating and cooling both residential and business structures. Starting set-up expenses can be rather a lot higher than typical air-source systems, but geothermal heat pumps provide extensively decrease ownership costs over the long term. Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) are units that utilize the earth?s heat to provide heating, cooling and hot water for commercial organizations and residential buildings. The systems are developed to make use of the fact that temperatures are at a near constant level of between 7 C and 21 C just a handful of feet under the ground, irrespective of geographic location or surface air temperatures. In the course of winter, the devices essentially extract heat from the ground and transport it to a commercial building or residence, although in summer the systems extract heat from inside buildings and move it to the ground. Ground source heat pumps are electrically run and are occasionally referred to as geothermal heat pumps, or geo-exchange pumps, or merely as earth-coupled heat pumps. A full-fledged GSHP device consists of a heat pump, a ground loop system for taking in heat from the ground or rejecting it back to the earth, and air ducts or radiant floor systems for giving the hot or cold air. The ground loop system usually is made up of numerous loops of plastic tubing loaded with antifreeze liquid or water, hidden under the ground in horizontal or vertical way. Through winter, the liquid in the loops gathers heat from the ground and shoves it to the heat pump when a compressor increases 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 shifted to the ground while cooler liquid is distributed back to the heat pump and then all the way through the building. An open loop system works in more or less the same way, but in this instance 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 environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient substitute to traditional air-transfer based heating and cooling systems. Reports have revealed that GSHP systems have heating efficiencies up to 70% higher than standard systems and cooling efficiencies of nearly 40% more than air-conditioners. The first cost of setting up a geothermal heat pump can be quite steep compared to traditional heating and cooling systems. Nevertheless, over the long-term the pumps are less expensive to own and to manage. They also can supply up to 50% savings on energy usage. In some cases, a geothermal heat pump is set up along with an air-source heat pump so as to decrease initial installation costs. Learn more facts about Ground Source Heat Pumps

Published in: Home Improvement + More, Life Of Science, Unassigned | on July 15th, 2010 | Comments Off