Geo Heat Pump Applications

What is a grouted, geothermal bore hole?

CaliforniaGeo 12-6-16 What They Are- When you want to exchange thermal energy with the earth, you must make an underground connection to tap it as your thermal battery.  There are multiple kinds of geothermal heat exchangers (GHEXs), but today we’ll look at the type known as grouted geothermal boreholes.  All photos in this post come […]

Geo system provides direct cooling of an emergency operations center in Florida

Geo Exchange® provides direct cooling via groundwater CaliforniaGeo 11-16-16  The Pinellas County Emergency Operations Center in Florida isn’t any different than similar facilities across the country. It needs to be up and running—no matter what. However, because cooling is such a large part of the energy load here, the facility sought to attempt operating cost reductions late […]

First-ever geothermal heat pumps at Edwards AFB

A high-tech government facility adds its (first ever) geo heat pumps at Edwards AFB for its fuel processing lab. The first ever  geothermal heat pumps at Edwards Air Force Base has landed on the high desert near Rosamond, California.  This site of aviation history has been pivotal in the development of all kinds of high speed, high altitude aircraft, […]

A Quarry Lake provides heat sink cooling for Nashville, TN Airport

An abandoned quarry lake saves the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority $430,000 per year for airport terminal cooling.   The former Hoover Quarry is a 43-acre lake located east of Donelson Pike and Nashville International Airport (BNA) Runway 2R/20L. The average depth of the quarry lake is 150 feet, containing approximately 1.5 billion gallons of water. At […]

A Hybrid Geo Heat Exchanger On Campus In Western Colorado

  A hybrid geothermal borefield with supplemental boilers and cooling towers results in major energy reduction for a growing campus. On the western edge of Colorado on the river of the same name rests the City of Grand Junction at 4,600 feet.  The rapidly expanding Colorado Mesa College made a choice to grow toward university […]

In Love With My Underground Heat Exchanger

 A Geo Heat Pump Advocate Expresses Love For His Underground Heat Exchanger  Our carbonless ZNE Home (in Perpetuity) CaliforniaGeo 10-16-16 Yes, I know it’s halfway toward crazy to love inanimate objects.  But I’ve got to explain that when my underground heat exchanger can provide perpetual carbonless free energy for our zero net energy house—my love […]

Sustainability of geothermal heat pumps

Call the graphic at left “The Blossom of Sustainability.”  There’s nothing but benefits with the deployment of millions more geothermal heat pumps (GHPs).  They separate society from the use of fossil fuels for occupied buildings.  GHPs connect with thermal energy underground like a battery.  That’s access to a sustainable renewable resource. Sustainability GHPs are long-lived.  Some in residential use […]

Geo heat pumps better than air-source heat pumps

The image at left may cause you to think this is an inactive air conditioning condenser in winter months.  It is not.  This is an air-source heat pump (ASHP) struggling in the heating mode.  It’s a vertical discharge unit that normally pulls air in from the sides and discharges it vertically. RESTRICTED BY SNOW As […]

Leverage, efficiency of geothermal heat pumps

One of the biggest hurdles to clear when talking to others about geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) is to erase the common misperception that this equipment is somehow connected to hot rocks and steam generation of electricity from deep under the earth.  That’s not it!  GHPs leverage electricity to efficiently work with the earth’s thermal battery. […]

Shallow earth temperatures aren’t sexy, but…

The temperature of the outside air is what affects the comfort of indoor spaces in all buildings.  Unlike shallow earth temperatures,  outdoor air displays a great range from day-to-night, and across the seasons.  This results in heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment always opposing the influence of outdoor air during extreme temperature swings. HEATING—COOLING […]