Ground Source Heating: Ground Source Heat Pumps
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by: ConnorBennett | Total views: 33 | Word Count: 630
There are a number of ways that you can use renewable energy for your home. One option is to use solar energy to generate electricity with PV solar panels. You can also get solar thermal panels for your hot water system. Another very efficient way is to use heat pumps, one of the main kinds providing you with ground source heating.
How Ground Source Heat Pumps Work
It is often said that ground source heating has an efficiency of 300-500%. That is not entirely accurate though, as nothing can be more than 100% efficient. What this means though is that more energy is coming out of the system than we had to put in.
The reason that more energy can come out of a heat pump than we put in (through electrical energy) is because the extra energy comes from nature. In this case, it comes from the latent heat in the ground.
The way this works is that pipes are installed underground, and through these pipes are refrigerant is run. The refrigerant is able to extract the heat from the ground, even through there isn't an awful lot there, and then transfer it to your house so you can feel the benefit.
The key point about a refrigerant, the property that means that it is able to transfer heat effectively, is that that it has a low boiling point. The consequence of this is that it doesn't take very much heat to turn a refrigerant from a liquid in to a gas, and gases have more energy than a liquid, meaning that they are hotter. So a lot of heat can be generated in this way.
Ground Source Heat Pumps Installations
There are two main types of ground source heat pump installation. You can either have the pipes installed horizontally in trenches, or vertically in a deep hole.
If you are going to have a horizontal installation then you're going to need quite a lot of space. You're probably going to need a large garden, which can have a trench dug in it. The pipes are then laid, in coils in order to have the largest possible surface area, and then covered over again.
When you are looking for the maximum amount of heat to be generated, or you only have a limited amount of space, then the vertical installation will be your best choice. The only issue with this sort of installation is that it is more expensive, as it is harder to dig deep down, rather than shallow trenches.
Whichever kind of installation you go for, you should certainly choose an experienced company to carry it out for you. That's because it's important that it is designed specifically for your property, it if it too large or small then it is not going to work properly and will be hard to fix.
Other Renewable Heating Options
You have another option, apart from ground source heating, when it comes to heat pumps. That is the air source heat pump. This is something which extracts the latent heat from the air instead of the ground, and is an easier and cheaper installation. However it doesn't work quite as well as a ground source heat pump.
The temperature underground remains pretty constant, but air temperature fluctuates more of course. This does not mean that an air source heat pump will not function when it is cold though, because the air is always going to have some heat in it. In fact there is only a few degrees of difference between what we would consider cold and warm.
An alternative to heat pumps is the solar hot water system, which uses solar energy to provide you with heat for your home. And you don't have to worry, it doesn't have to be a hot day for them to work, they will work throughout the year.
About the Author
Author Harvey Collins writes more on ground source heat pumps at http://groundsourceheating.org.uk. Learn the amount of money you can make, as well as how everything works. It's also possible to obtain a free solarinstallation quotation.
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