THE DESIGN OF THE GEOTHERMAL COLLECTOR IS AS IMPORTANT AS THE DESIGN OF THE HEATING SYSTEM
A Geothermal ground collector or array system is filled with a mixture of refrigerant & water that collects energy from the earth or a water source to provide heat to a building via a ground source heat pump. The energy collected by the ground source heat pump is then concentrated to provide heating energy for a buildings heating distribution system.
- The design of the ground collector is critical, ensuring the energy required from the heat source matches the heating demand.
- There are many factors affecting the collector design;
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- Heat loss of the building (Greater the heat loss the more collector required).
- Ground Make-up - different soil types have different extraction rates.
- Area available for the collector.
- Ground water content of the land.
- Every design of ground collector is bespoke.
- BeGreen have many years of experience in designing complete systems to provide maximum efficiency and can provide several variations of collector type to meet all requirements.
Geothermal Ground Collectors
Ground collectors in the UK generally come in 3 specific formats.
- Horizontal Ground Loop - This is the most common form of collector used in the UK, however it does require a fair amount of land. Requirement would depend on the heat load of the building. This is a relatively cost effective method of installation.
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Lake Collector or Pond Mat - This provides a very efficient solution as water is an excellent thermal conductor, however not everyone has a lake or pond available or one that is deep enough, the recommendation is at least 1.2 meters of depth.
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Bore Hole –Vertical Ground Collectors are installed in one or more boreholes. Boreholes do not require much land but do require specialist drilling equipment, this makes this solution more costly than horizontal ground arrays.
