This turnkey renewable mechanical system is designed to provide domestic hot water and space heating with minimal external energy input. The vast majority of space heat and domestic hot water is provided by the geothermal heat pump and solar thermal system.
This unique buffer tank configuration provides a true, high capacity geothermal preheat scenario by utilizing a ‘tank in tank design’. The large preheated storage capacity is ideal for sporadic, but large domestic hot water loads.
The system is equipped with a boiler that brings the geothermal or solar preheated domestic hot water up to desired delivery temperature. The same boiler also proved peak heat to the building for the brief periods when heating demand exceeds 85% of building design heat loss.
Utilizing a drainback configuration for the solar thermal provides passive freeze protection and overheat protection in routine operation, and in the case of a power outage or pump/equipment failure. It is the most reliable and cost effective way to move solar energy to water in a small application.
The distribution system includes in floor radiant distribution in balanced loop controlled at remote manifolds.
By employing reset strategy, the delivery temperature to the radiant slab is reduced when the heating load on the building is reduced (warmer outside). This is particularly useful in the shoulder seasons when the solar thermal provides a significant contribution at a higher efficiency than the geothermal system could. It automatically gives the best of both worlds.
A 2 pipe per trench horizontal geothermal groundloop is a great way to reduce capital cost and preserve excellent performance. A geothermal ground loop is an excellent way to extract low grade energy from nature with no impact for many, many years to come.