 Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP)
Special Interest Team
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Most people are familiar with heat pump technology in the form of the refrigerator, which uses a relatively small amount of electric power to transfer heat from the inside of the fridge to the black panel on the back which gets warm. The same process is used in the ground source heat pump, but the cold part is, in effect, buried deep underground where there is a large reservoir of heat, and the pumped heat is made available for space and water heating.
That the ground is cool and the house is warm only matters to the extent that the greater the temperature difference, the lower is the efficiency of the process. A typical system might consume 2.7 kilowatts of electric power but give out 9 kilowatts of heat into the house. The ratio between the heat output and the power consumed is known as the coefficient of performance (COP), and in this case would be about 3.3
Although the principle is simple, installing a GSHP is not a trivial undertaking. The underground collector may be horizontal and consist of dozens or hundreds of metres of steel tube buried a metre or so below the surface. Or it may be vertical, in which case a borehole of considerable depth will be needed.
Inside the house, the most effective way to use the pumped heat is to run underfloor heating. This operates at a relatively low temperature, allowing the heat pump to work with high efficiency. Alternatively, radiators may be used, but these would have to be oversized to enable efficient operation of the pump.
Hot water can also be provided by the heat pump, and some manufacturers offer combined GSHP / solar systems.
A Special Interest Team could investigate the suitability of these systems for use in our area, and gather information about the various manufacturers and suppliers, prices and payback time, and the availability of grants.
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Ground source heat pumps use a buried ground loop which transfers heat from the ground into a building.
Energy Saving Trust ...
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To encourage the growth and development of the ground source heat pump industry in the United Kingdom.
GSHPA ...
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Jump in -- join the team -- share your ideas -- let's do this together
info@SURE-energy.org.uk
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