The heating through alternative sources of energy is becoming more and more popular during the recent years.
On the market there are many options for building heating and ventilation systems, with the implementation of which the running costs are substantially reduced and the environment remains clean and healthy.
The geothermal pumps are an alternative for heating of buildings during the winter and cooling them during the summer.
The geothermal pumps are most suitable for buildings with year-round usage. They are of two types:
- ground pumps (horizontal or vertical);
- water pumps.
For the construction of the horizontal geothermal pumps is needed some space around the building and option for digging the trenches (poles) for applying the systems to a depth of approximately 3 meters.
At this depth of 3 meters the ground layers have a constant temperature of about 10-15°C. The area on which these systems are placed is approximately equal to 2.5 times the heated area. For instance, for a heated area of 100 sq.m, the serpentines should be placed in an area of approximately 250 sq.m.
The vertical pumps require deeper digging - between 50 m and 150 m. A polyethylene tube with a diameter of about 12-15 cm is mounted, which is then filled with a sufficient heat-conducting material. It is through this tube that the heat comes from the depths of the earth layers.
With the deep digging one could save efforts on the excavation for the horizontal systems and could spare the large area on which the horizontal pipes are laid.
The water pumps are built in areas where underground water at higher temperature is available.
During the winter, the heat pump draws the heat from the earth layers and gives it away to heat the building, while during the summer the process is reversed - the warm air is removed from the building and is cooled under the ground. In the summer season, the warm air from the premises could be used to generate free hot water.
The initial investment in the construction of a geothermal heating system for a certain building is significant, but at the same time the running costs for heating and hot water are much lower than the usual. However, in order to be effective, such system requires very precise calculations, proper project planning and implementation.