Ground Source Heat Pumps
Ground Source Heat Pumps provide a new and clean way of heating buildings in the UK. They make use of renewable energy stored in the ground, providing one of the most energy efficient ways of heating buildings. They are suitable for a wide variety of building types and are particularly appropriate for low environmental impact projects.
They can be installed is most of the UK, using a borehole or shallow trenches. 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.
The only energy used by ground source heat pump systems is electricity, to power the pumps. Typically, a ground source heat pump will deliver 3 or 4 times as much thermal energy (heat) as is used in electrical energy, to drive the system. For a particular environmental solution, green electricity can be purchased.
Ground source heat pumps work best with heating systems which are optimized to run at a lower water temperature than is commonly used in UK boiler and radiator systems. As such they make an ideal partner for under floor heating systems.