Tag Archives: space heating

What is a ground source heat pump?

A heat pump harvests energy from the ground to use for space heating for your home.

A ground source heat pump (GSHP) is a space heating appliance that uses electricity to convert geothermal heat to a temperature that can be used for indoor heating. They are common in the Lower 48 and quite popular in Europe. There are also several GSHP systems in Alaska, including commercial systems at the Juneau Airport, Weller Elementary School in Fairbanks, and the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward. Fairbanks has more than 10 residential systems as well.

In the winter, ground source heat pumps work like refrigerators in reverse. Instead of taking heat from the inside of the refrigerator and rejecting it outside, a GSHP gathers heat from the ground, steps it up to a higher temperature using a compressor, and then “rejects” it inside a house. In the summer, some GSHPs can run in reverse mode to provide air conditioning – taking heat from a house and rejecting it to the ground. The main “fuel” for a GSHP is geothermal energy, but it uses electricity to run the compressor. Since the electricity is only acting to boost the geothermal heat (which is free), heat pumps are more efficient than electric heating appliances.

A GSHP consists of 3 parts: the ground loop, the heat pump and the distribution system. The ground loop gathers heat from the ground. It consists of loops of pipes buried in horizontal troughs or vertical boreholes. A pump moves a fluid through the pipes. As the fluid travels, it is warmed up by geothermal heat from the soil and returns to the heat pump with a higher temperature than when it left. Back at the heat pump, the fluid from the ground loop passes its heat to a refrigerant, causing it to evaporate into a gas. The refrigerant fluid then passes through a compressor and its heat can be “stepped up” before it transfers the heat to air or water for the distribution system. Heat pumps can work with a forced air distribution system or a radiant hydronic distribution system, however they generally are not capable of producing hot enough water for baseboard hydronic systems.

Ground source heat pumps are considered a partially renewable technology, because the heat they take from the ground comes from solar and geothermal sources. They are entirely renewable if the electricity they use comes from a renewable source, such as solar or wind. Heat pumps are also very safe to operate, because there is no combustion. They can, however, be expensive to install because you have to excavate land or drill to establish the ground loop. Talk to an installer if you think a GSHP might be right for you.

For more information on ground source heat pumps, see a report by the Cold Climate Housing Research Center and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power: http://cchrc.org/docs/reports/Ground-Source-Heat-Pumps-in-Cold-Climates.pdf. It covers the performance, cost and payback of GSHPs in various regions of Alaska.

What is a combined/integrated heating system?

Many homeowners use the same appliance to heat both their house and their domestic hot water. These multipurpose appliances are called combined or integrated systems.

 

Hot water for space heating goes into a hydronic distribution system or to coils for forced air distribution, while domestic hot water goes to a storage tank or directly to the faucet. Combined systems work with several types of appliances, including boilers, ground source heat pumps or solar thermal systems.

 

Combined systems offer several advantages over distinct systems. Since an integrated system provides both domestic hot water and space heating, you have fewer appliances to maintain. During the heating season, it’s more efficient to have a single appliance providing both hot water and heating because you have fewer on-off cycles. It also saves space.

 

On the downside, combined systems can be less efficient when the heating appliance only fires occasionally—in summertime, for example. In addition, it’s tough to measure the efficiency of combined systems because the rating on the appliance (known as the AFUE) only applies to space heating, not domestic hot water. A heating contractor or someone who owns the same appliance can give you a better idea of the actual efficiency.

 

There are two types of combined systems—storage tank and tankless. Storage tank systems are most popular. In this setup, the appliance simply sees the hot water tank as an additional zone, but one that is separated from the space heating system to avoid contamination of the drinking water. When the domestic hot water tank calls for heat, the appliance sends heat to that zone. Having a storage tank forces the appliance to fire only a few times a day to provide hot water. This design is more efficient than a tankless coil system because the appliance doesn’t have to fire as often, which is an energy-intensive process. Also, since there is no burner on the storage tank you can add extra insulation to the tank to save energy.

 

A tankless coil system has an extra heat exchanger that fits into the appliance. Water is heated when it flows through the heat exchanger. Tankless coil systems are most efficient when the appliance is already being used for space heating. During summer months, however, the on-off cycling that occurs every time domestic hot water is needed can waste energy. To avoid this, some homes use a tankless coil system during the winter and a separate domestic hot water system during the summer.