Love Free Energy from the Earth?

By Gerald McClain, DLC, IGSHPAInternational Ground Source Heat Pump Association

International Ground Source Heat Pump Association

Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Ground Source Heat Pump Systems

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How do you get earths energy renewed?

17% reflected

by clouds.

6% reflected

by surface.

19%

absorbed

by water

vapor, dust

46% absorbed by ground

Space

Atmosphere

Earth

100%

4% absorbed

by clouds.

The earth is like a solar battery absorbing nearly half of the sun’s energy. The ground stays a relatively constant temperature through the seasons, providing a warm source in winter & a cool heat sink in summer. Takes about 3 months for cold or heat to reach 6-10 feet deep.

How do you get earths energy

renewed?

Honor the

2

Earth is Like a Giant Solar Battery• Absorbing nearly half of the sun’s

energy.• The crust of earth stays at a

constant temperature of 40 to 70 degrees. Caves have been used by humans and animals for years.

• Outside air temperature maybe -10 to 110 degrees, but the temperature of the ground stays constant.

• Everyone has stored energy under their feet. How do you get the free energy out of the ground? Use a GSHP system.

• Honor the Earth by using what mother earth provides.

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GHP System Cooling Concept

4

Cooling-In the summer, the system reverses and expels heat from your building to the cooler earth via the loop system.

Heat moves from warm to cold.

HPGround Loop

Heat Pump

Heat Pump’s hot refrigerant is sent thru expansion valve cooling refrigerant and sent as cool air to your indoor system for distribution.

5

How the earth works to save you energy! Cooling

Geo4VA - U.S. Department of Energy's State Energy Program

GHP System Heating Concept

6

Heating-In winter, water circulating inside a sealed loop absorbs heat from the earth.

Heat moves from warm to cold.

HPGround Loop

Heat Pump

Heat Pump compresses refrigerant to a higher temperature and sent as warm air to your indoor system for distribution.

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61 F55 F

Air 98 F

118 F28 F

37 F

130 F

37 F

165 F

118 F

How the earth works to save you energy! Heating

Geo4VA - U.S. Department of Energy's State Energy Program

Source: Temperatures from Karl Oschsner

165 F

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What is the Underground Temperatures on the Crust of the Earth in the USA?

62

In Oklahoma undergroundtemperature is about 62 Degrees

How to get the Energy from the Earth?Using a Ground-Source Heat Pump (GHP) System

Closed Loop SystemHorizontal Slinky

Slinky

Pump and Dump

Hybrid Systems• Combination of a

geothermal HP with cooling tower/boiler

• Where cooling/heating needs are significantly larger than GHP can supply.

• GHP will still provide significant Energy savings

(Sometimes referred to as Earth-Energy Systems, Shallow Geothermalor Geothermal Heat Pump Systems)

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Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Ground Source Heat Pump Systems

• Human civilizations have harnessed

ground source temperatures for

thousands of years.

• An early form of use of ground

temperature to keep warm was the cave

dweller, or troglodyte. Ref 1

• The Grotte du Vallonnet, a cave in

the French Riviera, was used by people

approximately one million years ago.

• Now, modern cave dwellers use the

temperature of the earth to heat and cool

their home by using the constant energy

from the earth.

• Learn how a Ground Source Heat Pump

System works. Ref 210

• Today’s Ground-source

(geothermal) Heat Pump

(GHP) systems are more

efficient systems than the

traditional cave dwellers.

• A GHP system has a method

of capturing the constant

temperature of the earth

though a ground loop.

Components of a GHP Ref 3

• Geothermal using “hot rocks

or lave flow” at + 212F to

produce steam to generate

electrical power is not GHP.

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• Ground Loops can be horizontal, or

vertical depending on available area.

• A Ground Loop is made out of High

Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe the

same material that natural gas lines are

made of. HDPE pipe joints are all fused

together with joints stronger than the pipe.

• For his successful invention of HDPE

plastic pipe, Karl Ziegler was awarded the

1963 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

• Ground Loops are guaranteed to last over

50+ years. The polyethylene pipe

industry estimates a service life for

HDPE pipe to conservatively be 50-100

years.

• The Bird's Nest Stadium Ref 4 and other

Olympic venues for the 2008 Olympics

Ref 5 in Beijing, China used GHP

technology. Ref 6

Bird’s Nest StadiumBeijing, China

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• Shallow Geothermal

temperatures at 30’

underground range from 40

degrees to 70 degrees.

• See the Energy

Department’s video Energy

101 Geothermal Heat

Pumps Ref 7 to find average

shallow geothermal

temperatures in your state or

hometown.

• Like LED lights, GHP is the

best heating, cooling and hot

water energy saving system

for the home or business.

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• The GHP unit according to

American Society of Heating,

Refrigeration, and Air-

Conditioning Engineers

(ASHRAE) will last 24 years

as compared to a

conventional outside

heat/cooling unit lasting only

16 years.

• Because GHP systems Ref 8

have relatively few moving

parts, and because those

parts are sheltered inside a

building, they are durable and

highly reliable.

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• Like a cave, the shallow ground

temperature is warmer than the air

above during the winter and cooler than

the outside air in the summer.

• A GHP extracts ground heat in the

winter (for heating) and transfers heat

back into the ground in the summer (for

cooling).

• Because a GHP system is so efficient, it

uses a lot less energy to maintain

comfortable indoor temperatures.

• According to the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) Ref 9,

GHP can reduce energy consumption

up to 44% compared to air-source heat

pumps and up to 72% compared to

electric resistance heating with standard

air-conditioning equipment.

Lotte World Tower123 storiesSouth Korea

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• GHP systems reach fairly high Coefficient

of Performance (COP), 3 to 6, on the

coldest of winter nights, compared to

1.75-2.5 for air-source heat pumps on

cool days.

• GHP are among the most energy efficient

technologies Ref 10 for providing heating,

cooling and water heating.

• GHP systems use 3-5 parts of free

energy from the ground and 1 part

electric energy to run the system.

• Saving of 30 to 70% of energy for heating

and cooling and hot water for your home

or business.

• International Ground Source Heat Pump

Association (IGSHPA) Ref 11 conducts

research, creates & sells training

manuals, conducts training and

produces conferences.400-600% Efficient

Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 4-6

1 kWhenergy

Yields:

4-6 kWh

energy for

Building

Plus 3-5 kWh energy

from GHP

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• HDPE pipe reduces the need for

fittings, is excellent in shifting soils

and performs well in earthquake-

prone areas.

• Leak tight. HDPE heat-fused

joints create a homogenous,

monolithic system. The fusion

joint is stronger than the pipe.

• Before installing solar panels on a

home you should use the free

energy from the earth and save at

least 50% of the energy

requirements.

• By installing a GHP system first

you only need half as many solar

panels Ref 12 to achieve near net

zero energy usage.

50% free energy from Father Sun

Goal near Net Zero energy

50% free energy from Mother Earth

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• GHP systems are

affordable considering

the amount of energy

you will save Ref 13

and the relative short

time of payback of 2-7

years.

• GHPs usually have no

outdoor compressors

or cooling towers, so

the potential for

vandalism is

eliminated.

Oklahoma State Capitol

has a GHP system

installed in 1990 by

Governor Henry Bellmon,

6 floors, ½ million SF, 400

boreholes, 200’ Deep.18

warm

Cool

• The earth is like a giant battery storing energy in the summer and giving energy in the winter.

• While producing lower heating bills, GHP are quieter than conventional systems and improve humidity control in homes.

• GHP systems allow for design flexibility and can be installed in both new and retrofit situations.

• Get free energy from under your feet by Installing your own geo-exchange utility. Ref 14

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Love Free Energy from the Earth?By Gerald McClain, DLC, IGSHP

Website: http://igshpa.org

International Ground Source Heat Pump Association

Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Ground Source Heat Pump Systems

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