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Ground Source Heat Pumps
 The earth beneath our feet acts as a very large store of heat energy. It can be used as a heat source in winter, or a heat sink in summer. The ground can be used to moderate the temperature in buildings standing on it.
A ground source heat pump can be used to extract heat energy from the ground in winter and to transfer the heat into buildings. Equally it can be used to provide a very efficient mechanism for heat to escape from buildings down into the ground in summer.
A ground source heat pump provides a clean way to heat buildings, free of all carbon emissions on site. It can make use of solar energy stored in the ground to provide one of the most energy-efficient ways of heating buildings.
They can be installed anywhere in the UK, using a borehole or shallow trenches or, less commonly, by extracting heat from a pond or lake. Heat collecting pipes in a closed loop, containing water (with a little antifreeze) are used to extract this stored energy, which can then be used to provide space heating and domestic hot water. Heat pumps can also be reversed in summer to provide cooling.
Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) save money. Heat pumps are much cheaper to run than direct electric heating systems. GSHPs are cheaper to run than oil boilers and can be cheaper than running gas boilers. Heat pumps save space because there are no fuel storage requirements.
Heat pumps are safe. There is no combustion involved and no emission of potentially dangerous gases. No flues are required.
GSHPs require less maintenance than combustion based heating systems. They also have a longer life than combustion boilers. The ground heat exchanger element of a ground source heat pump installation has a design life of over 50 years.
The performance of a heat pump is measured under standard conditions as the "coefficient of performance" (CoP): this measures the heat output in kilowatts in relation to the electrical input in kilowatts. However, the CoP of a heat pump is greatly influenced by the output temperature delivered to the heat distribution system in the building and the input temperature from the heat source.
In cold conditions a ground source heat pump with access to a temperature of 10°C from the ground will deliver a significantly higher CoP than an air source heat pump with access to -5°C from ambient air. The design, installation quality and controls of a ground source heat pump installation are critical to achieving good performance.
If you wish to find out more or would like to arrange an installation please call Warmer Energy Services on: 0800 377 7755
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