Quote:
Originally Posted by cmac2012
Is that the arrangement where temps at about 20 to 30 feet underground stay pretty consistent -- 50 to 60 -- and there's a way to use the difference with outside air to generate 70 or 80 degree air?
How's that work exactly?
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It's a heat pump, but it uses ground water instead of outside air as the heat source during winter and heat sink during summer. It is much more efficient than an air source heat pump.
During the summer, when air source heat pumps use 95 degree air to cool the freon in the condenser, the water source heat pump uses 55 degree water.
During summer, when air source heat pumps use the cold outside air to heat the freon in the evaporator (the outside unit operates as a condenser in the summer and an evaporator in the winter), the water source heat pump uses 55 degree water.
The laws of thermodynamics say that the efficiency of the system increases whenever you close the gap between the temperatures of the heat sink and heat source. That's the secret to the water source heat pump. It works especially well with solar hot water.