US 4,062,489 AGranted

Solar-geothermal heat system

OwnerRoland A. Hendersoninventor

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Abstract

A heating system that includes a solar collector assembly exterior of a building that is fluidly connected by inlet and return conduits to separate chambers in a heat transfer tank located in the building, a heat pump furnace unit having an evaporation-condensor coil located in the heat transfer tank so that as the liquid flows in the tank from one chamber to the other it flows in heat transfer relationship to the coil, the heat pump furnace unit being located outside of the tank and being provided for supplying heat to the building heating system, and a plurality of vertically elongated ground heat exchangers extended into the earth and connected by conduits so that there is provided a liquid flow path from one of the tank chambers through the ground heat exchangers, and then back to the other chamber. Pumps are provided in the above conduits for pumping the liquid between the tank and the solar collector assembly, and the tank and the ground heat exchangers.

Claims3

Dependent claims

For a building having a heat circulation system, heat transfer apparatus comprising a tank, a heat pump for being connected in heat exchange relationship with the heat circulation system, said heat pump having a furnace unit exterior of the tank for transferring heat to the heat circulation system and an evaporator-condensor unit mounted in the tank in heat exchange relationship with the fluid in the tank, the condensor unit having a heat transfer coil in the tank, a vertically elongated ground heat exchanger for having fluid circulated therethrough, fluid conducting means including a pump for conducting fluid between the ground heat exchanger and the tank and opening to the tank, a solar heat collector for having fluid circulated therethrough, said collector having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, first conduit means for conducting fluid between said tank and collector inlet, second conduit means for conducting fluid between said tank and collector outlet, each of the conduit means opening to the tank and means connected in one of said conduit means for pumping fluid therethrough, and a partition in the tank that in coperation with the condensor unit divides the tank into a first fluid chamber and a second fluid chamber, said condensor unit providing a fluid flow path between said chambers and having said coil extending into said flow path, the first conduit means opening to the first chamber, the second conduit means opening to the second chamber, and the fluid conducting means for conducting fluid between the ground heat exchanger and the tank including conduit means for conducting fluid between the ground heat exchanger and the first chamber, conduit means for conducting fluid between the ground heat exchanger and the second chamber and pump means in one of the two last mentioned conduit means for pumping fluid therethrough.

For a building having a heat circulation system, heat transfer apparatus comprising a tank, a heat pump for being connected in heat exchange relationship with the heat circulation system, said heat pump having an evaporator-condensor unit mounted in the tank in heat exchange relationship with the fluid in the tank, the condensor unit having a heat transfer coil, a vertically elongated ground heat exchanger for having fluid circulated therethrough, and fluid conducting means for conducting fluid between the ground heat exchanger and the tank, and a partition in the tank that in cooperation with the condensor unit divides the tank into a first fluid chamber and a second fluid chamber, said condenser unit providing a fluid flow path between said chambers and having said coil extending into said flow path and said ground heat exchanger including a vertically elongated outer tube having an upper end and a lower end, and a vertically elongated inner tube mounted in the outer tube to provide a fluid passageway between the tubes that is of a cross-sectional area greater than the transverse cross-sectional area of the inner tube, said inner tube having an upper end portion adjacent the outer tube upper end, and a lower end adjacent and terminating at an elevation higher than that of the outer tube lower end, and the fluid conducting means including a first conduit opening to the first chamber for placing the first chamber in fluid communication with the inner tube upper end, a second conduit opening to the second chamber for placing the second chamber in fluid communication with the fluid passage space between the tubes at a location adjacent the outer tube upper end, and a pump in one of said conduits for pumping fluid therethrough.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.