In this century of new technologies, as the energy sources people have relied on to heat their homes begin to disappear, it's time to start thinking about alternative sources of thermal energy that are as economical and inexhaustible as possible. Ground source heat is considered one such type of thermal energy. It's no secret that the ground temperature at a depth of 2.5m is consistently positive, and the deeper you go, the warmer the ground becomes. How can this be used to heat your home?
Today, there are several ways to utilise ground heat for warming a house. One of these is the use of a geothermal pump (ground source heat pump). To bring energy from deep within the earth to its surface and use it for heating, there are two methods for arranging boreholes:
Ground Source Heat Pump Installation – Key Considerations
1. Vertical method.
Several boreholes, 40-50m deep, must be created near the house. The larger the boreholes, the more heat can be extracted from them. Then, pipes for heat exchange, often made of ring-connected cross-linked polyethylene, are installed into the boreholes. The pipes are brought to the surface and routed into the house.
It is important to remember that the pipes must be insulated at ground level or up to 1.5m deep to prevent them from freezing in colder weather. However, this method has one significant drawback – its high cost. Not everyone can afford to hire heavy machinery to drill the boreholes, although all costs will naturally pay for themselves due to the heating's efficiency.
2. Horizontal method (ground source heat pump).
In this option, there is no need to drill boreholes as described in the previous point. Here, a trench must be dug 2.5 metres deep, taking into account your climate zone to know how deep the ground freezes. Then, following the same principle, pipes are laid in the trench and routed into the house.
The primary elements of this heating system are the geothermal pump itself and the heat transfer fluid pumped into the pipes. The heat transfer fluid in the pipes is a gaseous refrigerant, operating on the principle of a refrigerator. As it descends into the depth, it warms up, and the gas is compressed by the pump. It then moves back to the surface, where it turns into gas again, releasing heat, and returns to the compressor to be re-compressed.
This creates a closed heating cycle. Upon familiarising oneself with methods of heating a house using ground heat, one can conclude that it is indeed an effective, economical, and perhaps the most modern heating system.