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Ground Source Heat Pumps

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Geothermal Heat Pump Systems

Geothermal heat pumps are also known by a variety of other names, including geoexchange, earth-coupled, earth energy, ground-source or water-source heat pump. The engineering and scientific community tend to prefer the terms "geoexchange" or "ground-source heat pumps" because very little of the heat originates from true geological sources.

I have personally installed both residential and commercial systems at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina; and Marine Corps Air STation Cherry Point, North Carolina.

This lens serves as an aggregate of these projects and other resources to help you understand the engineering and logic behind the sytems.

Geothermal Heat Pump Links

FEMP's Geothermal Heat Pump Program
A PDF document that discusses the geothermal process and specifically includes references to the Camp Lejeune, North Carolina project.
How does geothermal energy work? Use the Earth to cool your home - St Petersburg Times
To understand the big difference, think of the Earth as a giant battery heated by the sun. Geothermal taps that natural battery by snaking a pipe a thousand or so feet long under the surface. It is filled with water, or a mix of water and other fluid, like antifreeze. The loop can be laid in horizontal squiggles snaking under a property at a depth of six to 10 feet. If the lot is small, the ground loop can be drilled vertically to depths of several hundred feet.
Geothermal Heat Pumps
Geothermal heat pumps (sometimes referred to as GeoExchange, earth-coupled, ground-source, or water-source heat pumps) have been in use since the late 1940s. Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) use the constant temperature of the earth as the exchange medium instead of the outside air temperature. This allows the system to reach fairly high efficiencies (300%-600%) on the coldest of winter nights, compared to 175%-250% for air-source heat pumps on cool days.

Geothermal Heat Pump pictures from Flickr

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Books about Geothermal Heat Pumps from Amazon

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Articles about my geothermal projects

Success stories in geothermal systems
The article on geothermal heat pumps ("Energy underground," Business, Dec. 20) was well written and researched. Although the cost of installing geothermal heat pumps has limited their appeal, it should be noted that there are quite a few large-scale geothermal heat pump installations in North Carolina. Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville has converted nine buildings to geothermal systems. The Marston Pavillion and many of the base houses for Camp Lejeune are also heated and cooled by geothermal heat pumps. On Ocracoke Island, the old Coast Guard facility and several public schools in North Carolina with geothermal heat pumps. Larger facilities, in addition to home installations, can provide energy savings and reduction in greenhouse gases.
Utility-Financed GHPs Breathe Fresh Air into Historic Marine Corps Facility
Geothermal or ground source heat pumps (GHPs), well known for their cost and energy advantages in retrofits of military family housing, are also becoming the system of choice for a wide range of other HVAC applications. This renewable energy technology uses the earth's energy to heat and cool buildings, and to heat domestic water. Energy management staff at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune found GHPs to be the most cost-effective option available to replace the old, ineffective HVAC system in Marston Pavilion, a historic building and community center for the base. The new GHP system costs 60 percent less to operate than the old system and provides excellent air quality and thermal comfort for the Pavilion-for the first time in memory for many of the building's users.
GHPs Improve Housing and Save Energy at Camp Lejeune
Utility Services Case Study on the Camp Lejeune Ground Source Heat Pump (Geothermal Loop Heat Pump) project and the impact on military housing and the impact on military servicemembers and their families.

Ground Source Heat Pump pictures from Flickr

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  • PeteSchultz Mar 11, 2011 @ 10:13 am | delete
    I've seen a demonstration home in Duluth, Minnesota built to take advantage of passive and active solar and ground-source heat pumps, double wall construction, high efficiency windows, skylights and so on. The home operated on something like $500.00 per year for all energy needs. The drawback was the higher cost of construction.
  • huvalbd Mar 3, 2011 @ 5:01 pm | delete
    Good lens, and making me wish we owned this house instead of renting so we could put in a system like this.
  • ChrisDay Feb 28, 2011 @ 11:13 pm | delete
    We've been looking into this area of energy sourcing for a while - good lens
  • Oct 8, 2010 @ 11:13 pm | delete
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WhitneyWells

I was a Construction Manager and worked on projects to install geothermal heat pumps in the housing at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, MCAS New River,... more »

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