Running the Pipes for Ground Source Heat Pumps Through Water

The dirt that makes up the earth holds its own temperature very well. It has a high insulating value and this means that when it heats up it retains that heat for a long time. In the reverse when this dirt is cooled down it will stay cool for a long time. This ability to hold the heat in is what makes ground source heat pumps so effective.

Ground source heat pumps use pipes filled with an antifreeze and water mixture to collect the heat that the ground is storing up and transfer it back inside the structure. The pipes are placed together so that they make loops that connect, the same way that the coils on your refrigerator are looped to allow the coolant to flow through them and created cold temperatures inside the box.

Ground source heat pumps can also extract heat from beneath larger bodies of water. Large ponds and lakes that are fairly deep retain their temperatures much like the solid earth does, Bodies of water that are deep will have different temperatures at the surface of the water than at the bottom. While the surface water may be too cold to get into the deep places in the lake may be nice and warm.

If you have ever been swimming in the summer and found the water to be too hot you knew to move out of the shallow depths to the deeper water. The deeper water would have pockets of cold water and the overall temperature would be less than it was in the shallow. When people run pipes beneath the surfaces of large lakes and ponds the water fluid inside the pipe will take on the temperature of the water. That means where the water is warmer than the air outside the fluid will gain heat. Where the water is colder than the air outside the fluid will lose heat. When the pipes return to the structure they originate from the different temperature of that fluid will cause the interior of the structure to become cooler or warmer accordingly.

The most amazing fact concerning ground source heat pumps is the fact that after the initial cost of installation the appliances are virtually free to operate. People with these items installed in their homes do not have high utility bills. They have utility costs that run pretty much the same all year round. They also have homes that remain a fairly constant temperature all year round.

Lakes and ponds are good bodies of water to use for this type of heating, but rivers make excellent sources as well. Rivers are more likely to be used by large companies that want to install a way to provide a nice indoor temperature and stay environmentally friendly at the same time. This is due to the cost of installing the equipment necessary to create the heat.

This also saves the companies money on their utility costs. We do not always think of how much it must cost a large corporation to heat and cool the buildings they occupy.