Ground Source Heat Pumps
Ground Source Heat Pumps, are sometimes (normally incorrectly) known as geothermal heatpumps.
Geothermal heat is heat from deep down in the
earths crust, which can be extracted using deep boreholes (>100m). Some parts of Ireland,
particularily around North Cork, have minor faults, which means that up to 18° C can be extracted using this method.
However the more common method is to use a large ground source loop in shallow ground (1 meter)
which acts as a large solar panel, storing heat from the summer and using it in the winter.
heat pumps have the potential to
provide heat at a very high efficiency. A ground source heat pump installed correctly
normally has has a Coefficient of Performance (CoP)
around 4 - i.e. for every unit of electricity consumed, 4 units of heat are produced.
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