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Forums > Green Building Technologies > Geothermal Heat Pumps > Subject: Geo Thermal Cooling Only, No compressor, will it work?

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zootjeff

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Posts:3

08/04/2007 5:22 PM
I have been looking into geo thermal heat pumps and the options with vertical vs horrizontal loops. If the ground is always 55 degrees F, then in theory you have 55 degree water coming in from the ground, and 68-80 degree water coming from inside the house, depending on how warm it is.. Assuming that you size the loop to have enough heat transfer with the ground to actually cool the water to 55 degrees F, it should work, right? So, 1. would it be possible to put in several bore holes, or some long horrizontal loops in the ground. 2. Run High Density Poly Eurathane tubing in them. 3. Add grout, or don't add grout.. 4. Cascase the loops together back near the forced air gas furnace into one big loop. 5. Construct or modify an evaporator heat exchanger for the forced air system so that it circulates not refridgent, but just water with antifreeze in the geo loops. 6. Put a pump in the middle. So now you have a cooling only Geothermal system that only costs the ammount of energy to run the pump. Seems like it would work just fine? What are your thoughts? In a typical geothermal system, I've been seeing 1 - 150-200 foot bore hole per Ton of cooling. A 2.5 ton system like my house would require might take 3 bore holes 150 feet each if I was using a compressor system. In a compressor system, what is the temperature of the water going into the ground measured right after the compressor, and what is the temperature coming out of the ground after going through the geo loop? I assume it doesn't get all the way down to 55 degrees F.. I assume in my method, I might need twice the bore holes to get the same performance of cooling, but even still, it should be more efficient, because you're not running a compressor.. -Jeff

geodean

Registered Users

Posts:583

08/04/2007 8:26 PM
Sorry but this won't work. There is no enough of a temperature differential. Blowing 75° air over 55° water might give you 65° air which will not cool your house. Nice idea though.

Dewayne Dean PalaceGeothermal.com Why settle for 90% when you can have 400% We heat and cool with dirt! visit- http://welserver.com/WEL0114/- to see my system

megatek

Registered Users

Posts:16

08/08/2007 9:54 PM
Jeff - Geodean brought up a great point. Your typical cooling system (that uses an outdoor AC unit) creates an evaporator (indoor air heat exchanger) temperature of about 40-45 degrees. This is just enough to cool the air efficiently and remove dehumidification. There are some patented products that you can get that have both geothermal heat pumps (for heating) and ground water (for cooling) integrated into one system. The problem is that you need that 45 or 40 degree ground water temp. Certain parts of the country (MI, MN, ND) may have colder ground water temps during the summer time. While the soil temperature may be 55 degrees and inadequate for the cooling, ground water from deeper down may be on the order of 45 degrees, and may be adequate for cooling. The closer to the surface you go, the warmer the water will be in the summer-time, so you need the deep down water as the source for cold water. Good luck -

John Herbert Sales Engineer www.hydroheat.com

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Forums > Green Building Technologies > Geothermal Heat Pumps > Geo Thermal Cooling Only, No compressor, will it work?

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