In-ground geothermal heat pump system
OwnerMichael McCaughaninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An in-ground geothermal heating and cooling system for a building is provided. The system can include a buried ground source heat pump, a heat exchanger, and a ground loop circuit buried to a depth below the regional frost line. The system can also include a buried ground source heat pump buried inside a building to be heated. The system can also include an in-building heat exchanger disposed in a building, and an evaporative loop running from the ground source heat pump to the in-building heat exchanger. A method for installing such an in-ground geothermal heating and cooling system is also provided.
Claims19
An in-ground geothermal heat exchange system comprising:
- a housing comprising a removable lid, the housing being sealed water-tight, reinforced to withstand ground force pressure, and positioned in a recess in surrounding ground having a regional frost line;
- a ground source heat pump disposed in the housing, comprising a heat exchanger, a compressor, a water pump, and a reversing valve, wherein the heat exchanger and the water pump are disposed in the housing below the regional frost line, and the compressor and the reversing valve are disposed in the housing above the regional frost line, each of the compressor and the reversing valve being positioned such that when the removable lid is removed from the housing, the compressor and the reversing valve are accessible from above the housing;
- a buried ground loop circuit comprising a portion disposed in the housing, wherein the portion in the housing is positioned entirely below the regional frost line and is in operable communication with the ground source heat pump, the buried ground loop circuit being adapted to collect and disburse ground source heat;
- an in-building heat exchanger disposed in a building;
- and
- an evaporative loop running from the ground source heat pump to the in-building heat exchanger.
A method comprising:
- forming a recess in ground having a regional frost line at a depth, the recess extending below the depth of the regional frost line, the ground having a surface;
- positioning a housing in the recess in a position such that at least a portion of the housing is disposed below the regional frost line;
- positioning a ground source heat pump in the housing, the ground source heat pump comprising a heat exchanger, a water pump, a compressor, and a reversing valve, the ground source heat pump being disposed in the housing such that the heat exchanger and the water pump are positioned below the regional frost line, and the compressor and the reversing valve are positioned above the regional frost line;
- positioning a water to evaporant heat exchanger below the regional frost line;
- and
- installing an evaporative loop from the ground source heat pump to an inside of a building.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.